“ALL WRONG.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20202, 12 January 1934, Page 7

“ALL WRONG.”

REPLY TO CRICKET CRITICISM. Canterbury Men Return. SAY AUCKLAND COMMENT CAME AS SURPRISE. Players and officials of the Canterbury cricket team, who returned this morning from Auckland after a Plunket Shield match against that province, are sorely puzzled. They arrived back after “ one of the happiest Plunket Shield games I have played in,” as one player put it, and find that allegations have been made against them, not only of extremely poor cricket, but of actual bad sportsmanship and ill-feeling in the Auckland game. The statements of “ Ponty,” telegraphed from Auckland and published in the “ Star.” alleged deadly dullness in Canterbury’s first-innings batting, extremely bad tactics on the part of the captain. M. L. Page, and also criticised most strongly the alleged refusal of Page to go on with the game at 5.10 p.m. on the last day, in response to an appeal made to Page by the chairman of the Auckland Cricket Association to go into the field and pacify the spectators. M. L. Page, when shown the comment of “ Ponty ” this morning, refused to say anything on the subject at all. Mr E. E. Luttrell. secretary of the Canterbury Association and manager of the team on the recent tour, had no hesitation in giving an absolute denial to all the allegations made by the Auckland writer, and expressed surprise and resentment at the bitterness of the criticism to which the Canterbury team had been subjected. “ This writer is wrong from start to finish,” said Mr Luttrell. 44 We had a happy time and a most enjoyable game in Auckland. The officials there and the members of the Auckland team were most hospitable, and the only criticism of Canterbury’s conduct of th© game came, it appears, from this one writer. 44 I will not deal with all the details advanced against us,” said Mr Luttrell, 44 but I will say that the impression created, that there was any unpleasantness or lack of sportsmanship in the Auckland game, is entirely false” “ All Absolute Triers.” Mr Luttrell added that he could not wish to travel with a more wellbehaved and pleasant crowd of fellows than the Canterbury team on the tour just concluded. “ They one and all studied the interests of the province and the side, and were absolute triers.” The statement that Page refused to go on for the last hour even though appealed to by the Auckland chairman is shrouded in mystery as far as the Canterbury people are concerned. Mr Page will make no statement, but Mr Luttrell was sitting in the stand with the Auckland chairman, with whom he had spent a lot of time and at whose hands he had received hospitality, and was also talking to him after the match, and the Auckland official made no reference whatsoever to such an occurrence. While an interviewer was talking to Mr Luttrell to-day, a mutual friend approached and asked Mr Luttrell “ What was all this trouble up in Auckland?” It was explained to him that the team knew nothing of any trouble in Auckland.

One of the Canterbury players was shown the articles, and expressed himself quite forcibly. “ I have never played in a Plunket Shield game that was more enjoyable,” he said. 44 The Auckland cricketers and officials are a great lot, and our relations were most friendly. Criticism of our captaincy was most unfounded. If Page had declared at tea time on the last day it would just have been making a farce of the game.”.