WEST INDIES TEAM

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19512, 10 June 1933, Page 14

WEST INDIES TEAM

TOUR OF ENGLAND Body-Line Tincture Body-line matters are moving rapidly in other countries. South Africa, has, we are told, officially ruled against intimidatory fast leg-theory bowling, with the stacked leg field. The South Africans have a shrewd idea of the nature of body-line, says a writer in the Sydney “Referee.” Only a little while ago one of the West Indies leaders, C. G. Grant, the young captain, I believe, said that, if necessary, in England, their team had the fast bowlers to exploit body-line. Perhaps, if W. M. Woodful had taken such a view he might have cut the thing short at the start by giving the Englishmen a dose of their own medicine, after warning D. R. Jardine of what would happen, if the LarwoodVoce tactics were continued. Surprise for the Critics. There is some significance in the first appearance of the West Indies team at Lord’s, leading to an outcry against the bumping tendencies of their two fast bowlers. Evidently the London newspaper representatives in the Lord’s Press box had a hectic quarter of an hour at the finish on Saturday, while Martindale and Constantine bowled at their top. J. W. Hearne and F. Hulme appear to have taken a mild battering. Despite this fact it is quite clear that neither of the West Indies bowlers attempted body-line tactics, as Larwood and Voce illustrated that fine art in this country. Not Body-line. The placing of the leg-field alone tells Australians this. Then wicketkeeper Barrow says the ball was pitching on the off stump and coming back to the batsman. We know Barrow, and he is not a man to say so unless it is true. Then there is Martindale, who states that the kicking of the ball was due to the nature of the pitch. Reputable critics, like Mr. S. J. Southerton, see in this quality of fast bowling though it be not the venomous body-line, something of no use to cricket. Though the West Indies were not bowling body-line, but bowling legitimately, they have been enlightening to stay-at-home Englishmen, especially some of those associated with the London Press, who have been so prone to use the term squealing in reference to Australian views. Some of these men have been irresponsible partisans without a vestige of judicial or broad national outlook. Fortunately, the M.C.C. is more typical of England and not tinctured in that way. Preliminary Practice. The preliminary practice of the West Indies in England was carried out in mid-wintry conditions. Early April in London is generally colder than midwinter in Sydney. Mr. A. E. R. Gilligan in London “News-Chronicle” of April i 20, referring to this, said: “I went to Lord’s yesterday afternoon and watched the West Indian cricketers at practice. When I arrived a heavy snowstorm swept the ground, but they carried on while others even more warmly clad raced for shelter.

“George Grant, their skipper, and Jack Kidney, the manager, told me that the team were feeling the cold very much. They were, however, delighted to have unusually fast wickets for the time of the year. I watched George Headley with interest. He batted with extreme care, and was content to get a good sight of the ball. His wrist work is a feature of his play. “The fast bowlers Griffith and Martindale did not go ‘full out.’ Martindale has a delightfully easy action, and I think he will be a very useful performer. After their net practice the team gathered in groups and proceeded to hurl the ball at prodigious speed to each other. Grant then introduced each player to the ‘talkies,’ and when the team were grouped together he said that they had a very strenuous programme ahead of them.

“ ‘We very much hope to win one of the Test matches,’ he said. ‘lf we do don’t be surprised.’ ’’

All the players with the exception of the two who are acting as professionals to English clubs, L. N. Constantine and G. Francis, are amateurs. C. G. Grant, the captain, a brother of the Corinthian goalkeeper, is a schoolmaster. So are B. Sealy and V. A. Valentine; C. A. Roach is a solicitor, C. A. Wiles and I. Barrow are commission agents; O. Da Costa is a railway official; H. c. Griffiths and E. Martindale are sanitary inspectors; F. R. Martin is a cashier in Jamaica, and George Headley a fruit inspector. The fastest bowler is E. Martindale, a colored player from Barbados. He is faster than Constantine. There does not seem a great deal of variety in the bowling, for there is ho slow righthander of class and a googly man is missing. Body-line bowling was a subject on which their manager, Mr. J. M. Kidney, would say absolutely nothing.