Cricket.

Putaruru Press, Volume XI, Issue 511, 2 March 1933, Page 1

Cricket.

THE FINAL TEST.

Honours Again to England.

Any doubt which may have existed as to the superiority of the Englishteam has been dispelled by the result of the last Test match. In no way can it be said that luck favoured the visitors. Woodfull again won the toss. After the Australians’ first innings, remarkable for the consistent scoring, the prospects of a close and interesting match appeared good. The Englishmen’s response made it an “ even go.” Australia through Bradman and Woodfull made a good start in the second innings—and then collapsed. Nor on this occasion can it said that Larwood was the destructive agent, for Verity and Allen took the most wickets.

In the Australian batting the colts, O’Brien and Darling, made a good showing in the first innings, and the tail did the best in any match. Oldfield again demonstrated his value as a batsman.

What a great player Larwood must be. His ability as a fast bowler has been proved, and now he appears as a batsman. It was hard luck that he did not get the other two runs to make his century.

Bradman’s innings were brilliant, but the cabled reports leave the impression that the great Australian batsman has become too reckless. The English bowling was not such that a batsman could take too many risks without paying the penalty. One wonders if Bradman had been batting for England whether his scoring would have been bigger. Hammond comes into the light as another century getter. It is rather remarkable how few centuries have been scored in this series of tests. It is something new to read that the Australian fielding was poor. This has usually been the strong feature of the play of Australian teams. That chances were dropped may have to be discounted in importance, for it is never known quite how hard the chance was. Anything which it is possible to catch is regarded as a chance, but it is never said if the fieldsman had accepted it it would have been almost a miracle. McCabe is reported to have missed several catches, and he is regarded as a great slip.