And They Would Have Manager And Captain Too.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18015, 27 November 1926, Page 9

And They Would Have Manager And Captain Too.

(Written for the “Star” by L.G.).

WELLINGTON are getting busy bright and early in regard to the tour of the New Zealand cricket team which is to go Home at the end of the present New Zealand season. Not only have they ten players up there who should all be considered for places in the team, but they have the captain and the manager as well. In the course of a long article last week, “ Not Out ” wrote in the “Evening Post”: “It is known that there are various candidates for the position of manager, and of them Mr G. C. Wilson (chairman of the Wellington Cricket Council) appears to have the strongest claims. And ‘ Father ’ Wilson would be able to get in quite a lot of good work before the team sails. On tour he would be an ideal head. Why delay the decision any longer when there is so much that might be done by the manager before the departure of the team?”

The remark about Mr Wilson being able to get in a lot of good work before the team sails is, to say the least of it, amusing. Somebody is already getting in good work on his behalf. At least it is not all good, as there was a decided unsavoury taste connected with the editorial which appeared in the Dunedin “Star” and which credited Mr D. Reese with statements concerning the managership of the team that he did not make. It was a most unfair and inaccurate piece of propaganda. Next comes news from Wellington that their association wants the New Zealand Cricket Council to appoint the manager straight away, simply because there are a few alleged sportsmen up that way who are holding back their subscriptions for shares until the name of the manager is announced. True sportsmen these? What is the object in hurrying up the council before the members have had time to give the matter serious thought ? It is common talk in Christchurch that requests are being received from different parts of the Dominion that certain gentlemen should be appointed to the position of manager. It is a pity all this propaganda is going on, as while it will not do the candidates any harm it will not better their claims. The New Zealand Cricket Council is composed of a level-headed body of men, and it is to be hoped that they will follow in the footsteps of the New Zealand Rugby Union and say, “We’re running this sport, not you,” to outsiders who try to butt in. J Records prove how successful the head Rugby body have been by adopting this attitude. I Coming to the question of players the Wellington writer first of all mentions Snedden and Lowry as likely to make good captains and follows on with: “There is another very fine player with English experience, one who has been captain man}' times in New Zealand cricket, and one who is unquestionably among the leading batsmen in Plunket Shield cricket for the past few years—D. C. Collins. He is the type of player wanted on the tour. All three now under notice—Snedden, Lowry, and Collins—must be seriously considered.” Following upon these remarks concerning the captain of the team, one reads the names of the following Wellington players in various parts of the article: Hiddlestone, Dempster, Kortlang, M’Girr, James , Brice, Eernau, Henderson, Tattersall. Not a bad collection this from one province! But what about the following from Canterbury? Here are fifteen, so why look any further? Patrick, Oliver, Crawford, Sandman, Cunningham, M’Ewin, Gregory, Cox, M’Beth, Talbot, Robertson, Hamilton, Mortlock, Boon and Findlay. These chaps from Otago wouldn’t mind standing on the bank: Blunt. Dickinson, Alloo, Galland, Cherry and Shepherd. Without a selector to represent them it will be no use Auckland putting forward any of the following: Dacre. Allcott, Rowntree, Garrard, Mills, Gillespie, Snedden, An-

thony or Horspool. Hawke’s Bay have had their share of the Ranfurly Shield, so it’s no use their thinking of sending Worker’s name for cricket honours. No, the easiest way out of it for the New Zealand Cricket Council is to leave it all to Wellington. They’ve got the manager, the captain and ten players. They could fill up with one from Hawke’s Bay, one from Taranaki, one from Wanganui and one from Palmerston North. But while we . are on the job let us examine past history. In 1913-14 New Zealand sent a team to Australia.

(Dunedin men.)

Wellington was represented by one man—C. W. Robinson.* The rest who I were asked couldn’t go. Then the ! team which went to Australia in 1924- J 25. What was Wellington’s representation on that occasion ? One man again —James, a wicketkeeper. And he went after eight others had turned the trip down! Yes, James was the ninth. On the face of this Wellington j should talk about who is going to be in the team, who is going to be captain, and who is going to be manager ! When the time comes for selecting the team it is to be sincerely hoped that no association—more particularly Wellington—will forward the names of men who will turn the trip down if chosen. The selectors will have a hard enough task as it is. It is not known whether the council have given the selectors any indication of what kind of a side is to be sent away, but while every assistance should be given the young players, it is not desirable that the whole hog should be gone in this direction. What is wanted mostly is a team which will put New Zealand on the map, combined, of course, with an educative purpose. A thoroughly representative New Zealand side would do well at Home, where the conditions are somewhat similar. The experience of the last Australian tour has shown that a couple of slow bowlers are es- • sential. The performances of New Zealand cricketers against oversea* teams in the past have proved that we have players practically as good as in any other part of the world if they could get enough practice in first-class g:.mts. CAPTAIN AND COLTS. So far as the captaincy is concerned, a great deal has been made of the need for having a man who has a knowledge ol English conditions. Personally, I 1 think any good captain under New Zea- I land conditions would be a .good cap- I

tain under English conditions. So far as ground and light are concerned, an intelligent cricketer would very soon find his bearings—the main thing is to have a player who knows his own men thoroughly, and how to get the best out of them. A Wellington writer has mentioned the claims of Lowry, Snedden and Collins for the captaincy, while in Otago the claims of Blamircs as player and captain are being pushed. I feel that the team should be chosen first on merit, and the captain then found from among those who are chosen. It seems to me that there are, at* most, only three places for colts who may show exceptional form, and that selection will be dependent on the failure of some of those whom I have mentioned, such as Lowry, Shepherd, Snedden and Bernau. In this respect there is bound to be a cerain amount of luck, for one of the players mentioned is a wicket-keeper as well as a batsman, and the others are all-round-ers, so that colts w’ith a brilliant batting record may miss because they have no bowling qualification. In Auckland the young players with most chances of consideration are Cooper, Mills, Gerrard and Player.