WHAT NEXT?

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20341, 26 June 1934, Page 1

WHAT NEXT?

Hedley Verity Builds Up Impressive Record.

A STICKY WICKET EXPERT. Australia had the better of the luck in the first Test and won it handsomely. England were well favoured in the second and won it still more handsomely. Two consecutive fourday Test matches have been completed within the time, and honours are even. Surely this Test series should be the most interesting since the war. In the first match Australia showed allround superiority, which was assisted by a crumbling wicket for the fourth innings. In the second England showed that her batting strength was far greater than the bald figures of the first match would indicate. On the second day Australia’s batsmen showed that given good conditions they were at least the equal of the Englishmen, but when rain and sun affected the pitch for the third day’s play they crumpled before the masterly left-hand slow bowling of Hedley Verity. Verity at Lancaster Park. The second Test will go down in history as Verity’s match. Before the rain affected the wicket he bowled wonderfully well, being the only man to keep Brown, Bradman and M’Cabe reasonably quiet. With the pitch to aid him. he must have bowled in irresistible manner. Those who saw him at Lancaster Park in the Test match against New Zealand two seasons ago can understand that he would be deadly on a tricky pitch. Verity has the ideal action for a slow lefthander. There is no jerk in any movement, the control is perfect, and the wrist flick phenomenal. His greatest asset is a remarkable control of spin and flight, which is backed up by a highly developed “ bowler’s brain,” which tells him just how to get a particular batsman, and the psychological. moment to deliver the telling ball. Out of Luck. The Australians were right out of luck when the rain spoiled the good wicket and the subsequent sun made it so difficult. But even that cannot detract from Verity’s magnificent performance. He was just the man to take the fullest advantage of the conditions. Verity did well on the last tour of the Englishmen in Australia, taking eleven wickets for 24.63 runs each in the Tests, and in all first-class matches forty-four wickets at 15.86. His name occurs several times in the records of exceptional bowling performances in Wisden’s.” For Yorkshire against Warwickshire at Leeds in 1931 Verity took ten wickets for 36 runs in one innings, in 18.4 overs, six of which were maidens. Two years later, on the same ground, he took ten Notts wickets in one innings for only ten runs, a remarkable performance. In his last three overs of 19.3 he took seven wickets for three runs. In 1933 he also took seventeen Essex wickets for only 19 runs, and sixteen of those wickets were taken on the one day. Liable to Happen. Australia’s collapse adds to Verity’s prestige as a bowler rather than takes away from the standing o'f the Australian batsmen. Such things are always liable to happen to the best of teams, especially under such conditions, and that is largely why cricket is such a splendid game. The smallest totals for an innings in Tests between England and Australia are:— 36, bv Australia, at Edgbaston, in 1902. 42, by Australia, at Sydney, in 18S7-S. 44. bv Australia, at the Oval, in 1898. 45, by England, at Sydney, in 1886-7. BODYLINE QUESTION. May Be Brought to Head This Year. (Received June 26, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, June 25. Sir Stanley Jackson, questioned regarding the report that Marylebone were contemplating a statement about fast leg theory, said that at the end of the season at some meeting like the Imperial Cricket Conference the question might be discussed and something happen. No rule could be made, but if some counties complained this might bring the matter to a head.