Arthur Carr Led Notts To Victory In County Cricket.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18889, 12 October 1929, Page 9

Arthur Carr Led Notts To Victory In County Cricket.

SPORTING NOTES FROM LONDON.

(Special to the “ star.”) LONDON, September 5. Opinions may differ as to the merit of the cricket season. Complete agreement could scarcely be, but we would all join in congratulations to Arthur Carr and the Notts team as a whole, on the winning of the championship for their great county. It is more than twenty years since Notts finished at the i head of the competition and if only for the unexpected failure against Glamorgan two seasons ago, when even a draw with the Welshmen would have given them the championship, there will be no one to begrudge them the honour which has at last come their way. Lancashire A. w. Carr can have no re(Captain of Notts) gre ts that they were called upon to surrender the title. They have had a glorious fling. Yorkshire, too, may well be satisfied with their record. So, also, Sussex and Gloucestershire, whose bowler, Goddard, proved to be one of the most improved in' the coqntry. ujZri**? s^owe< l themselves a young, ; nard-fighting, ably-captained side, and Kent can look back on the prowess of I their wonderful bowler, Freeman, and on the work of mighty Frank Woolley, whose scoring of his hundredth century against Middlesex gave him a among the immortals. If Woolley is not the finest, the most attractive left-hander we have had, he has been a joy to watch. For, to an unusual degree, he combines in his batting grace, style, supreme confidence and enterprise. On all manner of wickets, even on pitches when bowlers make the ball talk, as we say, he has never been known to sit on the splice; always he has been bright, forceful carefree—a real son of Kent. The South Africans did much to add to the attractiveness of the season. In Deane’s team there was no Vogler, a Schwartz, nor a Faulkner, but it may be doubted whether South Africa has ®Y® r . to us a team of such possibilities. Their splendid youth, keenness, and rare fighting qualities suggest that the day is not far off when the cricket of South Africa may be comparable with that of the other countries. Unquestionably South Africa has the foundations upon w’hich a truly great team may be built. They lost the rubber, but their failure was a gallant one. We have nothing to teach them in the matter of fielding. It is conceded that in this regard they were better than any side we put in the field. There was much merit in their bawling and on occasions, when the necessity was acute, this and that batsman rose to considerable heights. All that they lacked was experience, Start of Football. We may, or may not, like the undisguised commercialism of Association football as represented by the League, UllHHlllliilllllllilllllllijllJllU

but there is no end to its popularity. For good or evil it has eaten its way into the affections of the people as no other competitive sport has done. Nearly a million spectators of the first games of the season is abundant proof of how complete is its capture of the masses. And regarded as an entertainment it is surely one of the wonders of the age. Not only so, but looked at from the right perspective it serves as an antidote to the tediuip of workaday fife. With its vast growth the responsibility of the Football Association has been added to enormously. This body, with its stupendous riches, can do much to make the shopkeeping of Soccer less blatant, less offensive. It is imperative that it should do a great deal more than it has yet attemptod to popularise the game among the schools. A generous slice of its wealth should be employed in helping clubs to have better equipped grounds.

And in this regard they would do well to emulate the example of the Rugby Union. It should never be said that the F.A. are intent upon hoarding up their money. And in the building of international sides the policy of drawing all the players from the different league clubs should cease. There was perhaps never an occasion—certainly not since the split—when England was so rich in amateur talent. We are shortly to havs a match played between professionals and amateurs. Upon the play in that game the selectors should be guided and influenced iq the creation of their sides for the purposes of the internationals. A* least two or three amateurs might, with profit, have been called upon for the match last term against Scotland, notably Kail, of Dulwich Hamlet. But the team-makers adhered rigidly to their policy of playing an entirely professional' combination. Wider vision in preparing for the games between the countries is vital if the game is to be bettered and made to appear less of a trading concern.

One may well wonder and speculate as to what is thought, in the higher circles of the Association football world, of the setting-up house in a pretentious way by The Trojans at Southampton. The Trojans, one of the oldest Rugby clubs in the country, believe that even in Southampton, a hotbed of Soccer, there is ample room for them* They have acquired a lease of the Banister Court Stadium for the next five years, and will offer accommodation to 30,000 people. They are to open with a match against the Barbarians, for whom such famous players as C. D. Aarvpld (England), G. V. Stephenson (Ireland), Windsor Lewis (Wales), W. C. Powell (Wales), I. M. B. Stuart (Ireland), K. J. Stak (England) and G. R. Beamish (Ireland) have definitely pledged themselves to turn out. It cannot, of course, be expected that The Trojans will seriously compete with the Southampton League club, but it is at least significant that a whole-hearted effort is to be made to popularise Rugby in a town that has for long been wedded to Soccer.