CHAMPIONS WITH THE BALL.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 973, 29 October 1908, Page 12

CHAMPIONS WITH THE BALL.

C. T. B. Turner was, in my opinion, the greatest bowler I have evei' met; (writes A. C. MacLaren in the London “Star”) in fact, he always fascinated me to an extraordinary degree, so much so that when he was bowling I could never, for one moment, take my eyes off the man. His delivery was absolutely perfect; indeed, the magnificent swing of his .arm has only been approached by .one man in England. I refer, of course, to Jack Hearne, who was one of the finest bowlers the world has ever known. Charlie Turner’s excellence lay in the fact that he was always accurate in his pitch, and scarcely ever made a mistake in the placing of his men in the field. His fast ball was a beauty, and he had the happy knack of occasionally slipping in a ball which broke back just enough to beat the bat; but even in this he was clever enough not to overdo it. Runs against Turner were always difficult to get, and, no matter what condition the wicket was in, he was sure to get in a terror of a ball periodically. I have a vivid recollection of two balls with which he bowled me out, and, strange to say,,he; remembered those ‘specials’ ten years afterwards. “When Turner and Ferris bowled so well together against all our English county sides few of the public knew what a great hand the former

took in the latter’s success. I do not refer to catches, but the winning influence he had on the side generally, and on the bowler who was on at the other end especially. Turner was a man who was always getting wickets, and whilst he was sticking the batsman up and never allowing them to settle down to their game, it was a comparatively easy matter for the bowler at the other end to get men out.

“Hugh Trumble was, without a doubt, the finest bowler I ever played against for getting batsmen out l.b.w. on sticky wickets. In fact, in my opinion, he was one of the most reliable bowlers Australia ever turned out. He could break a ball as much as any man ever could, but never did too much. I suppose there could not be a bowler who took such great interest in his field. He seemed to weigh up every man who was there to support him, and he knew almost to an inch where to place him. There is no doubt that his ability to bowl for his fieldsmen was a great factor in his success.