TEST TEAM AND TYPIST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18016, 29 November 1926, Page 11

TEST TEAM AND TYPIST.

MELBOURNE. November 15. Victorian and South Australian members of the Australian XI. who returned to Melbourne yesterday are empathic in denying statements that had been made that there were serious differences in the team. They do not claim that there were no differences, but they declare that whatever differences arose were of a trifling nature. Members of the team were good friend?. A point has been made of players going about in pairs instead of parties. “What else would you expect?” asked those who returned yesterday. “ Would you have expected us to form fours and march about like soldiers?” Members of the team also refute suggestions of trouble over the engagement by Mr Sydney Smith, the manager, of a typist to assist him in his work. They regret exceedingly that the young lady concerned has been brought into the matter, for they say she was a most capable assistant to Mr Smith, and caused no trouble in the team that they knew of.

Players were not inclined to discuss the management of the team generally, beyond saying that the sweeping allegations that have been made in some quarters were not justified. It would not be reasonable, they said, to expect that every act of the xnanager would be approved by everybody, and they did not claim to be satisfied with everything that had been done, but they were not making any complaints.