President Punched.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 458, 20 May 1932, Page 11

President Punched.

Spectators at the first grade cricket match, in which Railway defeated Macquarie at Bathurst on April 30, witnessed a disgraceful spectacle when the president of the District Cricket Association (Mr E. C. Murray) was punched on the nose by a Macquarie player. Railway won on the first innings, and victory deprived Macquarie of the premiership. Railway elected to have a second knock, and Macquarie made a farce of the game by bowling underarm and sending down balls which went yards wide of the wicket. Mr Murray walked on to the field and remonstrated, when he was hit. Other players intervened and prevented further trouble. The association will conduct an inquiry into the incident. " Lop-sided.” The Springbok scrum of 3-4-1 is strongly criticised by English writers. One of them says:—“ I am glad that no one has yet attributed the Springboks’ success to the peculiar formation of 3-4-1 in the pack. I don’t think there is anything to recommend in this. It is a lop-sided arrangement and, although the test is that a scrum should work rather than that it should be theoretically symmetrical, given, equal shove, man for man, I think our formation is better. Theirs suited the abnormal strength and physical power of their forwards, especially the frontrow men, who were probably capable of holding, unaided, an average club pack.” On the Scrap Heap . Quoting the cases of Archie Jackson, ■who has been seriously ill, and is now recuperating in the Blue Mountains, and Alan Fairfax, who was out of work until he sailed for England recently, Joe Darling, the former Australian captain, bitterly attacks the Australian Board of Control.

Leading players in the Commonwealth have to take part in so much first-class cricket that their health is often wrecked when they are still young men, he says. Then, without work, they are liable to be thrown on the scrap-heap.