Time, Rain, The Tests, And Angry Australians.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17905, 22 July 1926, Page 5

Time, Rain, The Tests, And Angry Australians.

OUTSPOKEN COMMENTS AND MUCH DISAPPOINTMENT OVER TRENT BRIDGE FIASCO.

BELOW the “ Star’s ” special correspondent in London gives an interesting account of various important sporting matters. He alludes, for instance, to the great cricket fiasco at Trent Bridge and to some angry comments later by Mr Sydney Smith.

(Special to the “ Star.”) First Test Match. Concerning the first of the. five Test matches with the Australians, which begins this week-end at Trent Bridge. Nottingham, it is scarcely necessary to say that the team chosen to represent England has been pulled to pieces by the critics. But Plum Warner and his colleagues, though they have taken the utmost pains to study form, could not expect to avoid this. N'o team ever satisfied everyone. Three of Australia's famous players, M. A. Noble. »'lem Hill, and C. Kclleway are here as special newspaper correspondents. and they have joined in. the chorus, suggesting that the best has not been made of the talent available. The strongest criticism is that the eleven lacks bowling strength. It had 1 been reckoned that Macaulay, the Vorkshireman, was a certainty, but during the past fortnight a new bowler has come into prominence. This is Root, the Worcestershire player, who against the Australians captured seven wickets for forty-two runs. It was a great piece of work, and it was clear that the tourists were nonplussed by his swinging deliveries. For two or three seasons Root has been a successful bowler, but it is probable that his bowling was so deadly against the Australians owing to the fact that his type was new to them. Colour is lent to this suggestion by his noninclusion in the last of the trial matches. It was. said that he was suffering from a cold, but he acted as twelfth man. and. moreover, appeared as a fieldsman in an emergency. Question of Time. So the selection of Root meant the dropping of Macaulay, and the Worcester man will have Tate as his chief ally in attack. The other bowler’s picked are Ilearne, Kilner and Woolley, and it is suggested that they may not get the Australians out. But it has been a serious weakness of English teams in recent years that there has been a long "tail.” and it was no doubt to shorten this that Macaulay was sacrificed. The view taken is that the authorities have played for safety. In effect they have said: “We must have the batsmen to ensure that we do not lose, and we will risk having sufficient strength in bowling to force a win."’ From this point of view much will d e P e nd on the state of the pitch. Showery weather is predicted, and. given turf on which the ball can be made to turn, England ought to hold a strong advantage. On the last trial match the batsmen were harshly criticised for their dilatory scoring. Even Hobbs, who took over three hours to make eighty, did not escape. But the circumstances were exceptional. Every man engaged in the match knew he was on trial, and consequently he played for safety. But the fact remains that, tinless the batsmen quicken their rate of scoring, they will never force a win in three days. American Golfers Again Win Walker Cup. The victory of Jesse Sweetzer in the amateur championship at Muirfield, and the sorry failure of most of the British golfers left little hope that the Americans would be beaten in the international match for the Walker Cup at St Andrews. But. though the visitors were successful for the fifth consecutive time, the result was closer than was anticipated. Indeed, the margin in their favour was only a single match. The Americans gained an advantage on the first day, when they carried off three of the four foursomes. The only successful British pair were Roger Wcthered and Sir Ernest Holderness. who defeated Francis Ouimet and Jesse Guildford, the latter couple thus being beaten for the first time since the contest was inaugurated at Hoylake in 1921. In the singles the meeting of Cyril Tolley and Bobbie Jones attracted one of the biggest crowds ever seen on the old links, the gallery numbering fully ten thousand people. The game was, however a huge disappointment. Tolley made a dreadful start, losing the first five holes, and from that time his chance was almost hopeless. All these holes went through sorry blunders on the part of Tolley, and then, when he began to show his proper form, Jones, inspired by his flying start, gave him no chance to recover. The American played brilliantly, and finished the first round with the overwhelming lead of nine up. Seven holes in the afternoon sufficed to settle the match, Tolley suffering the heaviest defeat of his career.

Wetherad’s Recovery. The best golf for Britain was played by Wethered. On his favourite course, he revealed all the old confidence, which has been so strangely lacking during the past two years, and he was far too good for Francis Ouimet. Other wins for Britain were scored by Robert Harris, the captain, who beat Jesse Guildford. E. F. Storey, who accounted for Roland Mackenzie, and Andrew Jamieson, the Glasgow youth, who defeated Robert Gardner, the American captain. One of the eight matches was halved, and in this Charles Hazlet made a wonderful recovery. He was as many as four down to George Von Elm at the end of the first round, but in the middle of the second he played four out of five consecutive holes in three each, and squared the match at the fourteenth. Indeed, he had a great chance to go in front two holes later, but he missed a curly downhill putt of not more than a yard. Following this match came another international. In this ten British professionals were opposed by a team of American professionals, headed by the redoubtable Hagen. It took place at the new Wentworth Club, and resulted in a crushing victory for the home men. Out of fifteen games the Americans claimed only one win. Not since the war has British golf been ■een to such advantage. Except in the case of Archibald Compston, who lost to W. Melhorn on the last green, the form displayed was superb. Abe Mitchell, playing twenty-nine holes in an average of nine under fours, overwhelmed Jim Barnes, and George Dun-

can was almost as severe against Hagen. Hagen has not changed since he was here two years ago. lie is just as liable to err. and so far his putting has been nothing like so deadly Still, it is feared that, when the championship starts, he may be as big a danger as ever. Getting Ready for Football.

The governing bodies of Association football, the F.A. and the League, have now made all the arrangements for next season. So far as the playing rules are concerned, no changes have

been made. It was understood that Scotland intended to press for the extension of the penalty area, but it was announced at the last moment that they had withdrawn the proposal. No comment, significantly enough, was made on the off-side law, which was altered a year ago. Inasmuch as it has reduced the number of stoppages and thereby pleased spectators, the clubs are content to retain the change. But it has not brought about any improvement of play. The Arsenal brought forward their two motions—that no new man should be engaged after December 31. and that a transferred player should not be permitted to take part in a match against his old club — but both were defeated. Indeed, the only proposals approved were that the authorities should have the right to examine and sanction all terms df transfers, and that no player under the age of seventeen should be registered as a professional. The first of these was agreed to ow ing to the arrangement made last season for the transfer of Buchan from Sunderland to the Arsenal.. The latter agreed to accept £2OOO down and £IOO eitra for each goal scored by the player. This transfer was strongly criticised, but there was nothing in the rules to prevent it. As a matter of public interest, the actual sum paid by the Arsenal under this scheme was £3900. LONDON, June 17. The Abandoned Test Match. A more melancholy opening to the series of five test matches between England and Australia could not be imagined. Fifty minutes after the start at Nottingham, when Hobbs and Sutcliffe, bv careful batting on a wet, dead pitch, had scored thirty-two. rain began to fall, and in a short time developed into a torrential downpour. M ater gathered in pools and, though the rain stopped later in the afternoon, and the wicket was inspected twice, further play was out of the question. The following day, Sunday, was fine, but at five o’clock on Monday morning the rain came on again and continued almost without cessation throughout the day. The conditions were as bad on the next day, and so the match had to be abandoned without another ball being sent down. It was all dreadfully disappointing. A big crowd had assembled on the opening day, and as early as seven o clock on Monday morning, though rain was then falling, a queue formed outside the ground. In view of the fact that A. W. Carr had broken the spell in winning the toss—with an Australian penny given to him by Frank Mitchell, the old South African captain —it was considered that the prospects of the England side were most favourable.

Moreover, the bowling presented no difficulties to Hobbs and Sutcliffe, and the spectators had settled down in anticipation of a good fii;st-wicket score, when the rain drenched everyone and sent the players hurrying to the shelter of the pavilion. As was only to be expected, the abandonment has raised afresh in an acute form the question of the duration of the tests. The Australians are dead against their being confined to three days, and there is a growing opinion in this country that they ought to be allotted at least an extra day, making four in all. P. F. Warner, the chairman of the selection committee, takes this view, and so does Carr, the England captain. Angry Aussies. After the match Carr said: “The Australians have a perfect right to object to three-day matches. I object myself. The dreary business of the last few days has opened my eyes. I think it is absurd that the Australians should come all this way, and only three days .should be devoted to the tests. Personally. I do not favour long-drawn-out contests, but an extra day would suffice fot*them all to be played to a finish, except in the most exceptional circumstances.” Carr added that he did not know whether it would be possible, but he would be glad if the second test at Lord's, a fortnight hence, could be extended to four days. H. L. Collins, the Australian captain, declared that what he had to say on the question he would reserve for a later date. Sydney Smith, the manager of the Australians, was more outspoken. “Why should we come these thousands of miles to play half-finished games?” he asked. “Can you be surprised that in Australia they are exasperated, and that it is said the tours are not worth while? I hope the authorities will learn the lessen of Nottingham.” As a matter of fact, the Australians were very angry, and it was probably on this account that Smith stronglv criticised the action of the authorities in omitting players from* the trial matches in which they were engaged. “Why did you not put your best bowlers against us?" he inquired, “instead of secretly reserving them for the tests. You may say that you were merely trying new men. and not deliberately hiding the others, but it comes to the same thing.''

The reference was. of course, to the selection of Root (the swinging bowler, who cheaply dismissed the to,urists in one game) as twelfth man, on the ground that he had a cold.