CRICKET CROWDS

Southland Times, Issue 22215, 6 January 1934, Page 5

CRICKET CROWDS

BARRACKING PROBLEM

OLD TEST PLAYER’S DEFENCE

ENGLISH CRITICISM

(United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 5.5 p.m.) London, January 4. M. A. Noble’s recent defence of barracking continues to be received with hostility. The Evening Standard critic says: “Perhaps there is a touch of subtle or cynical humour in Noble’s statement which we English have not yet observed. If that is not so, I cannot see that bad manners are either impersonal or an asset to anything. The Australians will not find our cricket crowds, speaking generally, either bad-n annered or personal.” The Star editorially comments; “We do not pretend to understand the psychology of Noble’s defence. The whole point about what kind .of barracking we object to is that it is meant to be heard by the cricketer and is intended to put him off his game. Barracking is harmless if it is enjoyable to the players and the spectators, but if it possesses the venom or the malice against which Jardine protested, it does nobody good.” Several writer wax satirical over a cable reporting ‘that an Australian bowlei' was no-balled for body-line bowling. The Morning Post says: “It almost bursts the heart to think that a rule directed against one great bowler from abroad should be broken by an unconsidered bowler at home. We are glad to find there exist in Australia umpires whom cricket has, for better or for worse, drawn from the ranks of the thought readers and psychologists.”

NOBLE’S REMARKS

BARRACKING A REAL ASSET.

(United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 7.50 p.m.) Sydney, January 5. Apropos of the London cable to-day concerning Noble’s defence of barracking, this arises out of a speech delivered by Noble in Sydney on November 27 to young cricketers in which he said: “We hear far too much, about barracking in cricket. My idea is that barracking is a real asset to the game generally due to the sheer enthusiasm of the barrackers, who as a rule are impartial and impersonal.” In regard to the London message relating to an Australian bowler being no-balled for body-line bowling, inquiries in Sydney failed to disclose any such incident in recent Sheffield Shield matches.