Hutton Mastered Bowling Of Hew Zealand; Yorkshire Now In Much Better Position

Wanganui Chronicle, 4 May 1949, Page 5

Hutton Mastered Bowling Of Hew Zealand; Yorkshire Now In Much Better Position

Tourists Have Lead Of 32 And Eight Wickets In Hand For Last Day LONDON, May 3 (Rec. (5 pm).—By taking two quick New Zealand wickets at the end of the second day's play Yorkshire has changed the complexion of the tourists’ first match. With a lead of 24 and only 10 minutes to the close of play, New Zealand had pleasant visions of compiling a comfortable score on the third day and then taking a sporting chance of getting Yorkshire out a second time. With both Sutcliffe and Scott out and Wallace having some trouble with his right arm, which has been strained by throwing, the New Zealanders will have to bat carefully on the third and last day before lunch.

Another quick wicket or two for Yorkshire would have Now ] Zealand in trouble with the chances of winning veering distinctly in Yorkshire’s favour. Though the game has swung disappointingly for the touring team it is now certain that the final day will be infinitely more interesting than Jt , might otherwise have been, and a big crowd can be expected tomorrow. So far 25,500 people have seen the match and receipts have been £1220. One thing that the New Zealanders ! learned from their first day in the “paddock” was that their bowlers, ' particularly Cresswell and Burtt, must bowl to their field At periods noth, but particularly Cresswell, were : allowing Hutton to direct his shots ; in places where there were wide gaps. ! TWO WICKETS IN NINE DELIVERIES The bowling of Yorkshire at the ; start of the New Zealanders’ second inn r.gs can only be described as sensational There were 10 minutes to 1 go when Sutcliffe and Scott walked to the wicket Sutcliffe hooked Aspinall ■ to leg for four and received only two 1 more balls, one of which was a no- 1 ball before Aspinall got his leg stump. I Hadlee arrived to hit a catch im- 1 mediately to Wardle a 1 silly mid-on, 1 but fortunately it was another no- ' ball! The New Zealand captain took 1 a single off still another no-ball and 1 two balls later Scott stepped right in 1 front of his wicket and New Zealand were two for seven in five minutes! 1 Scott went with the last ball of an over which comprised nine deliveries. 1 Hadlee played out the final over of the day from Coxon ana made certain : that it was a maiden, thus saving WaUace from all possible risks. It was an amazing end to a day of ’ fairly- quiet cricket, to which Hutton ' supplied most interest by providing nearly half Yorkshire’s total of 346. Hutton, though he batted superbly, j had a narrow escape when he was 23. He played forward to a ball on the off from Cowie. It was snicked inside his bat and shot away obliquely to leg, just touching his leg stump, ft was the only graceless stroke of Hutton’s innings and he repeated it once again when facing Cowie. This time he was well past his century and the ball bobbed harmlessly away, well wide of his wicket. HUTTON’S BRILLIANCE Hutton’s innings v as the solid core of the Yorkshire batting and it was his quickness of perception which gave him plenty of time to make his strokes His footwork and the subtlety of his wrist work made the other Yorkshire batsmen appear like so many schoolboys. When he was caught by Cresswell at short fine leg attempting a boundary off Rabone, he had been at the crease for four hours 40 minutes and had scored 167,

while the other four batsmen had collected only 104. He hit 20 fours, all of them gliding along the turf as though drawn to 'the boundary by a magnet. He was, however, by no means disrespectful to the Nev Zealand bowling. Cowie and Cave in particular, he treated with caution. Cave was coir/ng surprisingly swiftly off the pitch. Hutton took two hours for his first 50 and an hour each for his two second 50’s If he showed predilection for any stroke, it was for about, three yards the square cut to the left of point, which at times he executed with such ease that it appeared to be one of his reflexes rather than a stroke. It is a fruitless speculation, but an inviting one, to consider what might have occurred to Yorkshire had Cowie hit Hutton’s leg stump instead jDf brushing it with the lightest of I caresses when the Yorkshireman was I only 23. It was good luck for Hutton, bad luck for Cowie, but, as the New Zealander cheerfully observed in the dressing room, “that’s what makes cricket.” The New Zealanders' bowling was good, particularly before lunch, and though it was unrewarded, some of the best came from Cave. The Wanganui boy kept a fine length, but neither he nor Cresswell found that there was any swing in the air. It i was not until the end of the day that l Cowie was treated with any familiarity and once either cut of impertinence or desperation, Lester pulled the Aucklander for a six. The ball bounced on the concrete terrace and jumped the Yorkshire stone wall to disappear from the ground. Rabine, the least used of bowlers, kept a machine-like length and with Burtt got the maximum of turn allowed by an easy wicket. Burtt dismissed Wilson with a ball which landed outside the off-stump and hit the leg stump. ENTHUSIASTIC FIELDING The New Zealand fielding was good, keen and enthusiastic Wallace drew many bursts of applause at cover and though he was suffering with a sore muscle strained by throwing, he was invariably accurate in his returns to Mooney. The Wellington wicketkeeper showed that he had little to learn from Brennan, his opposite number, who is generally recognised as being one of the best amateurs in ; England. • Donnelly once indicated remarkable 1 accuracy when he hit the middle stumo from 70 yards off. Cowie’s catching oi Coxon had a touch of the spectacular. The ball came hard and high to him at second slip. It struck his hand, bounced high into the air and he provided a safe cradle for the rebound. The fall of the orkshire wickets was: One for 32, two for 105, three for 236, four for 272 five for 271, six for 279, seven for 296, eight for 319, nine for 325.