“PLUM” WARNER WAS A GREAT GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18644, 22 December 1928, Page 7

“PLUM” WARNER WAS A GREAT GENERAL.

) I P. F. Warner is one of the most picj turesque personalities I have met in j cricket, writes P. G. 11. Fender. He was, of course, a batsman of the most I orthodox and scholarly type. I did j not play enough with him in his great ] days to be able to pick out his outstanding qualities, or strokes, but his ! performances all over the world arc of j an impressive nature’ j He has probably as great an experience of the game from the actual playing point of view, as any man who ever played. As a captain, he displa3*ed remarkable ability. He had that most wonderful quality, as a skipper, of being able to measure a situation accurately at any time on the field. In addition, he had the splendid knack of getting what he wanted out of all the players under him. He was able to inspire a person from whom he wanted something with the confidence that he could do what was required. Thus he got the best out of his side. His tactics in the field, though seldom spectacular or revolutionary, were invariably sound and continually effective. He could sense exactly how his bowlers were going and could divine the psychological moment for making a change—when a bowler, though bowling too well to be taken off, simply had to have a rest to avoid being a dead man for the rest of the day. Of medium height, with a slight stoop, he was continually alert and always planning something with a keen brain nourished by a deep experience and knowledge of every move on the board. Nothing escaped Plum. Every little movement or development seemed to convey something to him, and he was always ready to turn observation into action. Cheerful and charming at all times, he was yet able to infuse a grimness into his geniality, should necessity demand it. Unfortunately, illness played too great a part in his cricket iife. In spite of that, however, he was able, in Australia, to make his influence felt, even from the ringside, for the benefit of the side with whom he had been prevented from doing active serPlum was a great general. He used the forces at his disposal to the best advantage, whether in a Test or in a school match. He was deadly keen, and always optimistic, though never unwisely so, and in the history of the game he has a chapter all to himself, as much to his own personal credit as to the glory of the greatest of English pastimes.