CRICKET

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 280, 26 November 1932, Page 5

CRICKET

COST OF OVERSEAS TOURS WHAT SOUTH AFRICA FINDS. LOSS OF EMPLOYMENT. It is no secret that some of the members of the team who toured Australia are to-day without employment, simply because they threw up their jobs to make the overseas trip, stated the Rand Daily Mail on October G. It is true that on previous occasions leading cricketers have found themselves in similar difficulties; but then times have altered and the old happy-go-lucky way of changing from one job to another is by no means as easy to-day as ten years or so ago. To-day the competition is more intense everywhere, and it is becoming questionable xvhether the sacrifices in sport that arc expected from leading players are worth while —from the players’ point of view. After all, a man does not go on playing cricket and having a good time on the sporting field for all the years of his life. The rich amateur who can devote his time to the game and not worry about his livelihood when his playing days arc over is becoming a very rare bird indeed. Bradman’s vase is an interesting illustration. The Australian Cricket Board has taken up an attitude which would have been perfectly correct about a decade ago. If Bradman continues to act as a Press and radio critic, he cannot play in Test matches, is the decree of the authorities. For the sake of representing his country, Bradman is expected to pay scant attention to his means of livelihood. Can he afford to do so in times like the present? When one considers what is happening in the case of some of the South African cricketers, one’s sympthy is all for Bradman, and it looks very much as if the Australian authorities will have to recognise that it is now the year 1932, and that a player is entitled to make all that he can out of the game, if, in the course of rising to his high place in that sport he has to make those considerable sacrifices of time and opportunity that are involved in the tedious process of qualifying for Test match honours and afterwards carrying those honours worthily. ‘‘l am certainly of the opinion that no players can be blamed for taking advantages of his cricketing ability in obtaining employment,” were the words of Mr. S. j. Pitts, chairman of the Transvaal Cricket Union, in dealing with the problem. The difficulties in which leading players find themselves are not confined to Cricket, but nowadays affect both Rugby and lawn tennis. Some Rugby players and many lawn tennis players arc in the happy position of being able to combine their sport with their work. For instance, there arc numerous mine dubs who give every encouragement to their players to excel at. Rugby and to bring honour in football competitions to the clubs they represent. Players in the Civil Service are also in a happier position than many other players. But the difficulties that do exist are reflected by the fact that in an enthusiastic Rugby centre like the Transvaal many of the crack players ar e either unable or afraid to take leave to go on tour because their employment may be affected. Lawn tennis in the Transvaal can provide several instances of internationals who have practically thrown away their chances of earning a secure livelihood because of the time spent on the courts representing their country. Frequent overseas trips have meant interrupted business careers, and in these Circumstances opportunity after opportunity has gone astray. Something will have to be done to make international sport much less of a sacrifice for the players. The responsibility falls as much upon the governing bodies of sport as upon the public who demand higher standards all the time.