NEW ZEALAND CRICKETERS MEET ENGLAND TO-MORROW.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 150, 26 June 1931, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND CRICKETERS MEET ENGLAND TO-MORROW .

On Paper Chance is Slim, but Team may Rise to great Heights. To-morrow there takes place one of the most important events in the sporting annals of New Zealand. At Lord’s, the cricketers of the Dominion will meet England’s best in the first test match ever played between the two countries. It is an even more noteworthy fixture than a Rugby football test; for while the names of Maoriland footballers have been famous for decades, the cricket men have never before been recognised as worthy of meeting the Old Country’s first eleven. England have selected a young team —with few exceptions the very best available—and on paper even the most optimistic will be surprised if New Zealand gain the decision; but cricket is cricket, and New Zealand’s one chance is a healthy, active chance, with the team undismayed by the odds against it and determined to make its presence felt. In its matches so far, the New Zealand team has fulfilled all the hopes entertained. It has shown keenness in attack and any amount of run-getting ability, while the old fault of indifferent fielding is distinctly absent. There is no reason for changing the opinion that the team’s performance in the test will be most creditable.

As yet the team to represent New Zealand has not been chosen, but the sides will probably line out as follows : England. New Zealand. M. R. Jar dine T. C. Lowry (captain) (captain) I. A. R. Peebles M. L. Page R. W. V. Robins R. C. Blunt K. S. Duleepsinhji W. E. Merritt H. Sutcliffe I. B. Gromb H. Larwood C. S. Dempster W. Voce J. E. Mills W. R. Hammond G. L. Weir L. Ames K. C. James A. H. Bakewell H. G. Vivian A. C. P. Arnold A. M. Matheson M. Nichol (twelfth man) The New Zealand twelfth man will most likely be either Talbot or Kerr. Allcott, so far, has revealed none of his fine form of the Plunket Shield matches. Neither Kerr nor Talbot, to date, has quite realised expectations, though both have shown flashes of form, and might easily do well in a test match. Talbot, especially, has the temperament for a big occasion; he bats in a breezy manner, slightly demoralising from the bowlers’ point of view. Bowling Came First. Still, it is hard to see how any of the others are to be left out of the side. The bowling will be the first thing to look to. and the test side claims Merritt, Matheson, Blunt, Cromb and Weir irrespective of their batting ability. In this respect, Vivian might come in handy. Since Allcott is not proving a success, Vivian’s left hand delivery will enhance his chance of inclusion. Of the batsmen, Mills and Dempster will assuredly be the opening pair, and then there will code Blunt, Weir, Page, Dowry, Vivian, Cromb, James, Merritt and Matheson. in approximately that order. The inclusion of Kerr or Talbot j

would mean dropping either Vivian or Weir. Young and Spirited. There we have the New Zealanders. A young team with comparatively little of the cricket tradition of England behind it, but endowed with plenty °f aptitude and a full ration of cricket spirit. It is an even batting side from openers to tail, with one or two bright stars who compare with the very best. The fielding is excellent. It is in the bowling that the side’s performance is always problematical, and in this great match the form of the New Zealand bowlers will be a high factor. The side has one good fast-medium bowler in Matheson, and another in Cromb, and a useful stock medium in Weir. The slow bowling of the side is a a in a si h a is si hi a @ @ @ a g gi H H g

good, Merritt, and Blunt making quite a notable pair. Then there are Vivian Page and Lowry, three quite competent to take the ball for an over or two m any match with the hope of getting Wickets, and the certainty of providing variety in attack. Lowrv certainly has a team that gives full play to his policy of ringing quick changes. How effective that policy can

be has been demonstrated by the New Zealand skipper time and time again. When one scans the names of the English eleven, the need for a good and well controlled attack is most evident. For instance, there is the opening pair, Sutcliffe and Bakewell. Sutcliffe needs no introduction at all. A defensive batsman for the most part, he has an attack that is more safe than comprehensive. He bats in the professional style, making sure that he stays in and applying his favoured scoring shots at the right time and to the right ball. Once set, he is one of the hardest men in the world to send back to the pavilion; while he is a t the wickets the runs will come at a steady, if not a hectic, pace. He and the veteran Jack Hobbs have put up more than one record before being separated. Sutcliffe’s Partner. Hobbs has fallen out this time. Though he must still be ranked as one

of the greatest batsmen in England, life has been passed over in favour of a younger player. Ol two voting newcomers to the English eleven/Bakewell and Arnold, it is almost certain

that Bakewell will be w r ith Sutcliffe for the first partnership. Playing for Northants in the last game, Bakewell helped himself to the New Zealand bowling to the tune of 109 in the first innings, and 83 not out in the second. The critics are impressed with him, and when English critics approve the selection of a' comparative youngster, they are impressed indeed. He is described as having a sound defence and a masterly variety of scoring strokes, as well as that priceless asset, the right match temperament. He is picked as a batsman who will fill Hobbs’s shoes with credit. Then there comes the masterly Hammond, the great test match success of three years ago, a super-batsman not far short of the Bradman and Trumper class; not quite so prolific with the bat as in Australia perhaps, but still having a strong claim to be ranked the best in England. Duleepsinhji we know. His delightful displays in New Zealand two seasons ago need little recalling. If he has improved since then, he is indeed a great batsman. He recalls strongly the almost unbelievable quickness of eye, foot and wrist that distinguished the mighty Ranji, and collects runs off bowling that would seem to call for careful watching and a straight defensive bat. Jardine the Rock. The skipper, Jardine, has a reputation of being a heart-breaking batsman, a stone-waller of the most uncompromising type, a rot-stopper who nevertheless has the strokes and the ability to take advantage of the bowling when it tires. Then there are Arnold and Ames, while Voce, the

left-hand bowler, has improved his batting wonderfully. Larwood, also, must be considered as a batsman.

The array of batting talent that the New Zealanders will face is rather daunting. It is good to think that Lowry and his merry men are not of the kind to be unduly daunted. There should be no inferiority complex if a cricket side is to do itself justice. Nevertheless, the very necessary task of keeping the runs within reasonable limits will be no sinecure.

Lowry is, evidently, depending on Cromb and Matheson a lot for the’test. Against Northants, he bowled them moderately in the first innings, and hardly at all in the second. That procedure drew comment from some quarters, as being unduly risky, but the wisdom of the proceeding becomes apparent when it is remembered that Bakewell, in form, could have got an idea of their deliveries that would have stood him in excellent stead in the test match in a few days’: time. As it is, he and Sutcliffe (who, by the

way, may not play, and in that case the argument applies to Woolley) will be comparatively strange against Matheson, Cromb and Blunt. Lowry has nursed his bowlers for the test-match with expert skill, without sacrificing (except against Northants) the efficiency of the attack in the ordinary games. If only the visitors had a really good fast bowler, a man of the Gregory type, a big score by England would not be so much on the cards. Not to b© Taken Lightly. As it is, there is the possibility of England being dismissed for quite a reasonable total. Matheson is no Spofforth, and there have been medium-fast men who have won greater renown than Cromb, but neither, on a wicket giving them any assistance whatsoever, is to be treated lightly. Indeed, the pair are to be relied on, and they have the reliable Weir to relieve them of a little of the strain of being the stock bowlers of the side. And then the Blunt-Merritt bracket comes into the picture. Good judges of the game have said that on an English wicket, especially if it is gripping a little, Merritt is just as liable to go through a team as Grimmett. That is a big claim indeed, but a glance back over the results of the last New Zealand tour of England, and the recollection of what the Canterbury slow man has done in this country when the wicket suited him, make it seem a little less far fetched. Certainly, Merritt has to strike his day to give of his absolute best, but that can be said of any slow bowler. A wicket that suits him, plus a little luck—not an unreasonable amount —and Merritt will give some of the English cracks furiously to think. It has been done. A “ Surprise Packet.” Of Blunt, Warwick Armstrong said before the last tour that he should be kept “ up the captain’s sleeve,” a surprise packet to be opened when the need arose. Blunt is not as steady as Merritt, nor does he produce quite the spin, but he certainly does unleash one or two unusual balls, calculated to make the best of batsmen hit the wrong place at the wrong time. It might be deduced from Lowry’s use of him to date that the captain thinks along the some lines as the famous Australian where Blunt is concerned. Vivian, Page and Lowry are all good for an over or two. Altogether, the attack has proved fully up to expecta-

tions. The lack of the express man is a real one, but nevertheless the English batsmen will have to work for their runs, however many they make. The fielding, including that of James behind the wickets, may be relied on. thoroughly. * t

England’s Attack. England’s attack will, of course, be particularly strong. Against Larwood, Hammond, Voce, Peebles and Robins, the New Zealand batsmen will have to produce their very best. In fact, it is held by shrewd judges that this side, even though one or two prominent men are left out, will be the strongest fielded by England for six or eight years. The selectors have done what other committees have been very reluctant to do—weeded out the reputation men and given youth a chance. The last Australian team showed what results that policy can bring. This match will be a memorable one. Not only have England accorded 3 min in in sunn is® in min ms®® i*] ms

New Zealand the dignitv* of a meeting on equal footing, but New Zealanders are convinced, with justification, that their side will perform with the greatest credit, even though a win is, perhaps, a little too much to expect.