Cricket 1914

THE WORLD Australians on Matting. CLEM H ILL 'S OPIN ION . By “ C o v e r . ” (From the Adelaide Observer.) A l t h o u g h still some distance off, the Australian cricket tour of South Africa in 1914-15, and particularly the tests to be played there, form material for much interesting gossip about probabili­ ties and possibilities. The programme is to start with a match at Durban on December 1, 1914, and conclude on April 17, 1915. Messrs. Clem Hill (South Australia) and E. E. Bean (Victoria), and Dr. L. O. S. Poidevin (New South Wales) are the selectors for the trip, and it will be some time yet before they get down seriously to pick a representative team. English players, after their triumphant tour in South Africa, have set the ball of dis­ cussion a-rolling by declaring that the players whom they de­ feated were not by any means so weak as the figures seem to indicate. J. B. Hobbs, the famous Surrey batsman, in fact, goes so far as to declare that the Australians will be beaten when they meet the Africans on their own grounds. The statement will come as something of a shock to most people out here, who, after having reviewed the form displayed by the South African teams against local men, both here and in England, had come to the conclusion that the representatives of Australia would have no great difficulty in defeating their rivals across the Indian Ocean. Matting, says Hobbs, will be the cause of the Austra­ lians’ downfall. S t r a ig h t T a l k . The Surrey champion makes no bones about the matter. “ I am absolutely sincere,” he says, “ in prophesying that when the Australians visit South Africa at the end of the present year they will not only find a cricket foe worthy of their steel but a foe who will, I am quite certain, win the majority of their matches. Yes, I say that South Africa will assuredly defeat Australia in most of the tests.” Then he talks of the Africans thus :— “ I am given to understand that our sequence of successes has been looked upon almost in the light of a ‘ walk-over ' by the enthu­ siasts who followed our fortunes by means of the cablegrams published in the English newspapers ; that we were so far superior to our opponents in point of skill that we were always *on top ’ with the minimum of effort ; and that, once we had proved our superiority, the South Africans were a beaten team before the matches were started. There never was a greater mis­ take made, for our opponents were the keenest of fighters, and right up to the finish of nearly every match we were never sure but that, by some supreme effort, victory would be snatched from us. W ithout Barnes on our side anything might have occurred, and even without this great bowler we had a fine team.” W ic k e t D is a b i l it i e s . Comparing conditions in Australia and South Africa, Hobbs says :— “ The difficulty of the wicket which faces the Australians is probably the biggest they will have to contend writh. This vast difference in the wicket will spell rank failure on the part of more than one batsman, who might easily turn the tide of disaster into the channel of victory were they to be given wickets of the kind to which they have been accustomed in their own country. The pitches one gets in Australia are a revelation to men who have hitherto had no experience of them. Throughout the Australian summer the conditions may be said to be almost entirely in favour of the batsmen. W ith a wicket like glass a bowler starts with a handicap, unless, of course, he be very fast. It is practically impossible to make the ball turn in the slightest degree, and woe betide the man who doesn’t bowl a proper and respectable length. On the other hand, the African wicket, while being good and true because it is always composed of matting, is a bowlers’ pitch, again because it is composed of matting. Let me explain. It is fast, it is true, but that matting bites better than anything I know of ; and while the home teams are accustomed to see the ball ‘ do ' anything up to a few inches, the Australian is not.” “ A G o o d S t r u g g l e .” I had a chat with Clem Hill about the prospects of the Aus­ tralians and the probable personnel of the eleven. He said that it was rather early to talk about the selection of the team at present. There would, he remarked, be a Board of Control meeting in the middle of June. He considered that Australia would put in the field a team as strong as the one that was picked to make the trip to England before the trouble with the board, but when asked if he could be induced to make the voyage he replied emphatically, “ No.” South Australians and cricket lovers in the Commonwealth generally will regret this latter decision, for it seems a pity, indeed, that so great a champion should drop out' of international games. Clem mentioned that he had heard that Massie, the fine Sydney left-hand bowler, would probably be prevented from making the trip. “ How about Hobb’s remarks that Australia will be defeated ? ” I asked. “ I cannot see it,” he replied. “ Of course, the Africans will have an advantage in being upon their own matting wickets, but, taking into account their form as shown in England and out here, I cannot see that there will be anything more than a hard fight. The Englishmen say that the teams they defeated gave them some tough battles, but I cannot think that the Australians will be so greatly at a disadvantage as he states.” M a t t in g . “ How about the matting ? ” “ It certainly takes a little time to become used to that, but I think that the Australians will become accustomed to it all right. It is a test of the great cricketer that he can adapt himself to all kinds of conditions. If he cannot he should not be called great. You remember when we were in South Africa in 1902, after hav­ ing defeated England, we made plenty of runs with a number of centuries. We played six matches, won three, and left the other three unfinished. Many of us made big scores, and, after a while, were not greatly troubled with the matting. Perhaps the South Africans are stronger now, but we have the makings of a good team here.” P r a c t ic e t o g e t R e a d y . “ There is a suggestion that the Australian team should have practice upon matting wickets here, and also have a couple of weeks to spare before starting in South Africa ? ” “ There is something in that, but I think that if we give the men, say, a fortnight in South Africa to get used to the new con­ ditions that will do. The test matches don’t start right away, and there are some soft games in which the players can get their legs.” B o w l e r s . “ What about the bowlers ? ” “ Some of them may have trouble in getting on to the wicket. The tendency always is, you know, for the man who bowls from some height, and especially the one who turns from the off, to go right over the wicket. You remember how Trumble, after having had a very fine season in England, went to South Africa and was utterly at a loss to hit the sticks. Although he did not stay for all the matches, he got only one wicket. On the other hand, Saunders and Hopkins did well. The matting suited their style better.” “ Of our present bowlers, who do you think would do best ? ” “ It is hard to judge. It might be said that Massie would be under disadvantages somewhat similar to those which Trumble suffered, but I think on those wickets it is the leg-break bowler who comes off best. Good flight is wanted, fizz of the pitch, and a consistent length. I should say that Whitty would be success­ ful, and also Armstrong. I think that Barnes’s success was due very largely to his leg-break, and the way in which the ball came off the pitch, say, from the leg to the off stump. It is then that you get the catches in the slips. On the matting, of course, the ball turns wonderfully.” A n I n c id e n t . Clem recalled an amusing incident in connection with a match at Johannesburg during the South African tour of 1902. It is particularly interesting in view of the fact that it concerns that big-hearted South African giant, Jim Sinclair, who died recently. Sinclair was then at the height of his powers— a tremendously hard hitter. Howell was put on to bowl against him, and the giant hit the first delivery out of the ground. “ You're a nice bowler, you are,” Hopkins remarked to Howell, as he watched the leather fly. Next Hopkins himself had a roll up against the hitter, and Sinclair treated his first ball with scant courtesy. “ He drove it,” said the South Australian left-hander on Friday, “ straight down the field—a magnificent knock. I suppose that was about the biggest whack I ever saw. I was in the deep field at the time, and the ball went away over my head. Had it been from the centre of the Adelaide Oval I reckon the leather would certainly have gone out of it altogether. Sinclair was a wonder in those days.” OF CRICKET J u l y 4, 1914. O l d a n d I n t e r e s t in g O il P a in t in g , C r ic k e t M a t c h a t C a l c u t t a . Size 2 ft. 7 ins. by 2 ft. Also Coloured Engraving England X I , 1847.— W r ig h t & Co., 7, Temple Lane, London, E.C.—Advert.