CRICKET OVERSEAS

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XLIX, Issue 9590, 19 August 1949, Page 2

CRICKET OVERSEAS

THE FOURTH AND FINAL TEST THE GAME IN DOMINION SQJVIE ASPECTS TO CONSIDER At Kennington Oval., on Tuesday the fourth and final 1949 cricket Test between England and New Zealand ended, as had the three before it .in an inconclusive draw. The state of the game, however, was such that it could be said that England was denied victory through the refusal of the M.C.C. to deviate from its original decision not to deviate from its original decision not to allow more than three days for each of the Tests. If New Zealand has performed sufficiently well to earn a four-day allocation in the next series, then Hadlee and his men can congratulate themselves upon having at least accomplished something. It is-at this stage that New Zealand might well pause to visualise its cricketing future. National pride and optimism based upon the unquestionably excellent performances of the present team may demand that this country aims for the stars. Less exuberant and more conservative opinion may tender the view that our cricket already occupies its due place both domestically and in the international sphere.

Protagonists of the “aim high” altitude probably received with enthusiasm the report from Sydney early this week that plans are under way to give New Zealand a place in Australia’s inter-State competition for the Sheffield Shield. That such a scheme would grade New Zealand no higher than an Australian State would be rather an unpalatable pill for such people to swallow, but doubtless they would be prepared to take the medicine if convinced that it would have the desiied effect by giving our players regular experience against Australia’s best. The issue is not quite as simple as that, however. A Sheffield Shield player is scarcely in the “Saturday afternoon” category to which the New Zealand cricketer belongs, even when the Plunket Shield series is taken into account. With some exceptions since the admission of West Australia, the Australian States play home-and-away matches and the players have relatively little time for their private employment between November and February (inclusive). In compensation they receive payment for their services, while the importance attached to cricket in Australia usually overcomes the leave-of-absence problem. This is in marked v contrast to the procedure in New Zealand, where the Plunket Shield matches are concentrated as far as possible in the Christmas-New Year holiday period.

Would New Zealand be wise to endeavour to lift cricket from its present standing as a popular and respected form of recreation by making it, so far as the leading players are concerned, a part-time profession? There would probably be a strong body of public opinion against such a proposal, especially while the need is for greater effort in the production sphere. Nor is there real reason to believe that New Zealand, by straining its resources to the utmost, could establish itself on a par with England and Australia, the admitted champions on the cricket field. England must temporarily bow to Australian supremacy, but the reasons for her difficulties are well understood. Her cricket will surely regain its feet, as it has invariably done in the" past. When that recovery comes New Zealand will doubtless have a better opportunity to measure its status. After all, New Zealand’s straightest and shortest road to glory—if glory be the aim—could well lie along the Saturday afternoon path. The accomplishments of a team are measured against its background, in New Zealand’s case that of a game still regarded as a pastime. Early in the tour now closing the cavalier methods of the New Zealanders were regarded in England as refreshing but liable to become suicidal. As success followed success (interrupted only by a rain-damaged wicket at Oxford), the cricketing cavaliers won unstinted admiration wherever they travelled and huge attendances cn the grounds reflected their popularity, In the Test just concluded the greater weight of playing strength was exerted by England, but the cricketing world will not fail tp pay due respect to Cresswell, the minor association “unknown” of a few months ago who, in his Test debut, claimed the top five of England’s wickets, later adding another, and to Reid, whose match-saving 93 runs came from tb.e bat of’ another player who has obtained almost all his first-class experience on his first tour of England.