CRICKET FAULTS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 956, 28 December 1933, Page 10

CRICKET FAULTS.

Canterbury Bowling and Fielding. HOW CAN IT BE IMPROVED? How should the cricketers of Canterbury set about improving their bowling and fielding? The question has been before cricket administrators and enthusiasts for some time, and it received an added interest as a result of the Plunket Shield match against Otago When re-

ferred to old cricketers to-day, the point drew some interesting replies. The general opinion was that definite weaknesses w*ere revealed, weaknesses which should have no place in the play of a side in interprovincial cricket, and that there are remedies which lie in the hands of the play-

ers themselves as well as with those in charge of the organisation of the game. The questions raised whether a good professional should be imported, whether practice should be organised on different lines, and whether the players themselves were .sufficiently enthusiastic and intelligefit in their practice, ali brought comment. The consensus of opinion was that Canterbury have the material to make a really first-class side, and that the errors that creep in when the side actually takes the field can largely be eliminated. Enthusiasm Needed.

“As soon as fellows begin to take a real liking for bowling and fielding, those departments will improve,” said Mr T. W. Reese, who was himself an outstanding fieldsman when he played for the province. “ While they look upon them as a necessary evil, and get their main enjoyment out of batting alone, then the fielding and bowling must stay in the doldrums. “ Riley, who is one of the players who have received coaching from Mr A. W. Thomas, showed just how dangerous a man is who bowls a good length for over after over. He is a little on the slo\v side, but even w'ith that he kept the batsmen on the defensive w'ith his accuracy.” We are running a risk with so much swerve bowling, w'hich tends for short bowling. If bowlers take an enjoyment in their job, and the present scheme of coaching young bowlers to send them down ‘ on the spot ’ works as well as it promises to, we should have plenty of attacking material in time. Length and spin are needed rather than swing, which may come off and may not.”

Discussing the advisability of importing a coach who would help with bowling and fielding as well as batting, Mr Reese said that a lot depended upon the man. He recalled Humphreys, who coached in Christchurch about 1909. He had a personality that attracted all young players, and they simply hung on his words. The result was keenness and enjoyment of bowling and fielding as well as batting, and for some seasons Canterbury always had a contingent of keen and able colts coming on to fill vacancies. Mr Reese did not advocate the discarding of the present system of bowling coaching, which was valuable in the extreme in teaching the young bowlers the great importance of length and showing them the right lines on which tp develop their play. “ And then in fielding there is always practice wanted,” said Mr Reese. “ We used to throw the ball about much more in my day. I even used to throw a soft ball against a brick wall to train eye and hand.” More Study Needed. Mr W. H. Winsor gave the opinion that fieldsmen did not use their wits enough in watching the methods of good fieldsmen and eliminating faults in their own methods. He pointed out one or two members of the Canterbury team, young players, who had studied fielding and, while hardly brilliant in the sense that Chapman and other stars were brilliant, were eminently sound and up to standard. Throwing in, for instance, was one feature which showed lack of practice. “ Slip fielding will always be marked by some dropped catches,” said Mr Winsor. “ Our very best slip fields have dropped their percentage. But some of the players were noticeable for wrong methods. One tall man stood upright practically all the time, and as a result he did not get down to one or two catches. “ Then, some fieldsmen do not seem to realise that the hands are in a more or less unnatural position when a catch is taken; the palms are turned towards the ball with a distinct physical effort. If they all bore that in mind there would be fewer instances of the ball striking a player’s fingers. “ Roberts and Riley bowled well, but the bowling as a whole was certainly not above the average. ‘ Slinging ’ the ball down is not so good. Reg Read would have been a useful type of bowler in the match, but you cannot ask a man to go on bowling for ever.” (A review of yesterday’s play appears on Page 11.)