BACK IN ENGLAND

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXVIII, Issue 199, 18 August 1933, Page 8

BACK IN ENGLAND

A CHEERING CROWD WELCOMES DAVIS CUP TEAM 1 • > LONDON, August 1. Thousands of people went to the Victoria station yesterday to greet H. W. Austin, F. J. Perry, G. P. Hughes, and H. G. Lee, and the Davis Cup, which they brought back to England after an absence of twenty-one years. The victorious Englishmen were given the most rousing reception ever accorded to a team of tennis players in England. The ‘Daily Mail” says that Londoners have rarely seen such turmoil as that which occurred at Victoria. Women lost their hats and many fainted in the rush to shake hands with Perry. Barriers and policemen, alike powerless, disappeared in the rush. Several women were flung over porters’ barrows and the police had to fight to prevent them from being tramped upon. Perry was besieged in his car, and the pressure of the crowd cracked the window and threatened to crush the sides. Finally the car escaped, a policeman clinging to the running board and one sitting on the bonnet. Perry Nervy It was revealed that Perry, after a breakdown, on Friday, the first day of the match, was so nervy when practising singles on Saturday morning that Mr G. Roper Barrett, the non-playing captain, decided that it was impossible to risk playing him in the doubles, fearing that if he were faced with strong opposition, such as Merlin eventually produced, he might collapse. % Writing in the “News-Chronicle,” Perry says, “Knowing that the French practically made us a present of two matches, but were relying on Cochet, who is still ‘the Great Henri’ to snatch his singles, we decided that whoever had to play Cochet on Friday must win at all costs.

“Austin gave me a great lead by defeating Merlin, and Mr Roper Barrett, watching Cochet closely, assisted me with advice. Between us we managed to fatigue him so much that his legs failed. “Nevertheless, it was the old, inspired Cochet who defeated Austin, leaving me to face the second of the most nerve-racking matches in which I have ever played.” The Lawn Tennis Association is faced with the problem where to put the winners’ names, for both the bowl and tray (which was added when the surface of the bowl itself was filled with names) are now occupied. France in 1932 filled the last available space. Australia Next? “We shall probably have to go to Australia to fetch it back,” said a pessimistic Frenchman among the crowd of enthusiasts who accompanied the British team to Calais, and watched the Davis Cup, buried in flowers, being carried to the Channel boat. It had been in the possession of France for six years. A Customs official waived the special duty payable on silver exported from France, saying, “It will be back soon.” The team’s progress home was a triumph. Parisians crowded the railway station, cheering the Englishmen. Lacoste, Borotra and Brugnon were prominent among those who bid farewell. Hundreds of girls threw kisses. Merlin, a member of the French team, has already returned to soldiering.

The president of the French Lawn Tennis Association (M. Pierre Gillou) shouted to Austin, who was balancing the tray, “Don’t drop it now; drop it next year.”