Australians Face Huge Deficit In Test Match.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18641, 19 December 1928, Page 5

Australians Face Huge Deficit In Test Match.

ENGLISH BATSMEN SHOWED SUPERIORITY BY COMPILING RECORD SCORE OF 636

(United Press Assn. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) SYDNEY, December IS. The second test match was continued in warm weather, on an excellent wicket. Hammond quickly left the 201 mark, and soon passed Murdoch’s record of 211, made in England in 1884. However, he lost Larwood, who, swinging at Gr<jmmett, was well taken by Ryder at square leg. Though Larwood took eighty-nine minutes to make fortythree, he played well, off driving brightly* Hammond continued with a very brisk display, his cover driving being as choice as has been seen on the Sydney Cricket Ground for years. All the time the bowling was receiving a trouncing. The fielding, however, was splendid, except for Ironmonger, who was very slovenly, causing the crowd to ridicule him.

Foster’s was made against much superior bowlers, including Noble, Howell, Saunders, Laver, Armstrong and Hopkins. Scores:— AUSTRALIA. First Innings. V. Y. Richardson, b Larwood 27 W. M. Woodfull, lbw b Geary .... 6S i A. F.‘ Kippax, b Geary 9 W. H. Ponsford, retired hurt 5 H. L. Hendry, b Geary 37 J. S. Ryder, lbw b Geary 25 O. E. Nothling, b Larwood 8 W. A. Oldfield, not out 41 C. V. Grimrnett, run out 9 D. D. J. Blackie, b Geary 8 i 11. Ironmonger, c Duckworth b j Larwood 1 j Extras 15 Total 253 i Bowling analysis.—Larwood, three for 77; Tate, none for 29;; Geary, five for 35; White, one for 79; Hammond, none for 18. Fall of wickets—One for 51, two for 65, three for 152, four for 153, five for 171, six for 192, seven for 222, eight for 251, nine for 258.

Second Innings. V. Y. Richardson, c Ilendren b Tate 0 i W. M. Woodfull, not out 17 j H. L. Hendry, not out 21 Extra 1 Total for one wicket 39 ENGLAND, First Innings. J. B. Hobbs, c Oldfield b Grimmett 40 H. Sutcliffe, c Hendry b Ironmonger 11 W. R. Hammond, b Ironmonger . . 251 D. R. Jardine, run out 28 E. Ilendren, c Richardson b Blackie 71 A. P. F. Chapman, c Ryder b Blackie 20 H. Larwood, c Ryder b Grimmett 43 G. Geary, lbw b Blackie 66 M. W. Tate, lbw b Blackie .... 25 G. Duckworth, not out 39 J. C. White, stpd Oldfield b Hendry 29 Extras 10 Total 63G Fall of Wickets.—One for 37, two for 65, three for 148, four for 293, five for 341, six for 432, seven or 496, eight for 523, nine for 592, ten for 636. Bowling analysis.—Nothling, none for 60; Hendry, one for 62; Grimmett, two for 191; Ironmonger, two for 142; Blackie, four for 148, Ryder, none for 22; Kippax, none for 11.—Australian Press Association.

All thought that Hammond was certain to beat Foster’s record of 287, made at Sydney twenty-five years ago, but he played Ironmonger into the ground on the leg side, and the ball rolled into the wicket. lie had given a glorious display. Batting for 451 minutes, he hit thirty fours. It was wristy, versatile cricket. England ha 'j sent out few better batsmen. Tate hit breezily for twenty-five. Then he missed in attempting an on hit off Blackie, and was out leg before. Geary and Duckworth offered surprising opposition. Both were quiet at the start, but were brighter afterwards, the bowling being absolutely collared. Blackie and Ironmonger appeared the most dangerous, the former being able to turn the ball, but it had On reaching sixty-six Geary pivoted around to swing Blackie to leg. The ball struck the on pad, and he was out l.b.w He batted for 162 minutes, and hit eight fours. He did not shape at all like a tail-end batsman.

Eight runs were required for a test record when White, who is a weak batsman, joined Duckworth, but again there was a surprise. They showed up the poorness of the bowling, and the record was beaten by thirty-six before White was stumped. Duckworth’s was a really good knock for thirty-nine. He was especially sound on the off. Blackie, who obtained the best bowling figures, deserved them. He kept a good length and was tricky in the air. He made the ball turn well from the off. The fielding never slackened. Richardson and Grimmett were the best. Oldfield kept wickets perfectly. Ilis stumping of White was particularly brilliant. Australia faced the huge deficit of 353 runs, a practically hopeless task with Ponsford out of action. Disaster came almost immediately. Before a run was scored, Richardson turned Tate hard to square leg, where Hendren, close in, took a splendid catch.

Woodfull had a unique piece of luck. He played a ball from Tate hard into the ground. It bounced on to the l*iils without disturbing them. It was the first stroke of fortune that Australia had had during the game. Hendry and Woodfull were, together till 5.50, when an appeal regarding the light was successful. The attendance was 17,358, and the receipts £I6OO. England was well on top all day. There were many regrets that Hammond did not break the record, but

CLEM HILL CRITICISES • TACTICS OF RYDER

LONDON; December 17. Clem Hill appraises Hammond as a champion of offside strokes. He gives full praise to England’s batting, and declares that all the chances are that Australia will again be defeated. He then proceeds with the definite statement: “I am of the opinion that Ryder’s captaincy is not up to test standard. Hammond repeatedly drove through the covers to the boundary, yet it was not until he w r as 150 that Ryder posted a deep boundary. I fail to understand why there were so many fours when they could have been stopped by different placings. Throughout the Hammond-Hendren partnership Ryder allowed the field to be ragged, though the men stuck well throughout a trying? day. I fear that we must pass over the older men and introduce youngsters.”—Australian Press Association.

BOARD MAY DEBAR PLAYER-WRITERS.

SYDNEY, December 18. The average Australian cricket enthusiast is convinced that the test ashes are going back with the Englishmen, thanks to Hammond, Larwood, Geary and Hendren. In a multitude of facetious observations at the ground, one wag to-day seemed aptly to express the feelings of those around him when he shouted: “Hey, Ryder! When does the test match begin ? ”

The question whether players should be allowed to write for the Press is also the subject of considerable comment. A number of people regard the practice as objectionable, as it takes the players’ minds off their job and might even cause dissension in the team. Quite an army of old cricketers and some present-day players are engaged in Press activities at the test. They are: M. A. Noble, Clem Hill, W. W. Armstrong, A. A. Mailey. C. G. Macartney, C. E. Kelleway, W| H. Ponsford, A. G. Moyes and P. G. 11. Fender. It is practically certain that the Board of Control, at a meeting a fortnight hence, will debar those still in the game from Press writing. The president of the board made this statement to-day.—Australian Press Association.

NOTES ON THE GAME

On the first innings England has a lead of 383 runs, and it looks as if she can count on an innings victory. The advantage of the toss was supposed to have been considerable in the tests. The fact that the English captain won the toss in the first test was considered to be a considerable advantage. In the .second test Ryder had the luck in the spin of the coin. This, however, did not prove of great advantage to his side, in spite of the fact that it had first use of the wicket. The Australians were, of cour.se, unfortunate in losing Ponsford through an injur)', after he had made only five. Still, apart from this mishap, it must be admitted that the Australian batsmen, on their own wicket, did badly. In the latter stages of Australia’s innings, there was little, except the knock of Oldfield, to warrant the suggestion that the Australians are great lighters when they are up against it. They lacked dogged fighting qualities at Brisbane, and, so far, this has also been the case at Sydney. For the second test the Australian selectors stuck almost entirely to the team that did so badly at Brisbane. They will, perhaps, be now more inclined to give some of the “young bloods” a chance. Australia, as one of the English newspapers pointed out, appears to have arrived at a transition period. She has built up a team of older players of proved ability, but of failing powers, and omitted to provide for a younger set of players to take their place. The Australians to-day arc paying the penalty for this policy. However, theTe is no reason to suppose that, when the time comes round for the next Australian team to visit the Old Country, a good combination should not have been built up. There are

plenty of promising young cricketers in Australia from whom a good team should be able to be formed in a year or two’s time. At the present time England has a much stronger team than the Australian side. However, there is no reason for Australian supporters to be down-hearted. The winning of test matches seems to go in cycles. The score of 636 is the highest innings total ever registered in a test match between England and Australia. Before this, the record was held by Australia, who scored 600 at Melbourne in the 1924-25 season. At Melbourne in 1911-12, England made 589. The previous highest score made at Sydney in a test match was the total of 586 registered bv the Australian team in the 1894-5 season. The present match at Sydney marks the first time that England has scored over 600 runs in an innings in a test with Australia. Hammond is only the second English batsman who has made a score of over 200 in test matches with Australia. The record score for batsmen in England v. Australia tests is held by R. E. Foster, the Worcestershire amateur, who scored 287 for England at Sydney in December, 1903. This performance was all the more meritorious because it marked the first appearance of Foster for England in a test with Australia. # The highest score ever registered for Australia against England was 211 made by W. L. Murdoch at the Oval in ISB4. In December, 1894, S. E. Gregory made 201 at Sydney for Australia against England, and the only other score of over 200 registered in tests between the two countries is that of J. Ryder (captain of the present Australian team), who carried his bat for 201 in the test at Adelaide in the 1924-25 season. Foster’s aggregate for the match, when he made his record score, was 306, Ryder’s 289, Gregory’s 217 and Murdoch’s 211. The only other batsmen to obtain an aggregate of 200 or over for a match are: —H. Sutcliffe (England), 303 (176 and 127) at Melbourne in 192425; W. Bardsley (Australia), 266 (136 and 130) at the Oval in 1909; 11. Sutcliffe, 237 (76 and 171) at the Oval in 1926; K. S. Ranjitsinhji (England), 216 (62 and 154 not out) at Manchester in 1896; E. Hendren (England), 214 (169 and 45) at Brisbane in 1928-29; G. Ulyett (England), 213 (149 and 64) at Melbourne in 1881-2; P. S. M’Donnell (Australia), 207 (124 and 83) at Adelaide in 1884-5; G. Giffen (Australia), 202 (161 and 41) at Sydney in 1894-5.