THE CHINA MAIL, FEBRUARY 12, 1988.
SECRETS OF CRICKET SUCCESS OVE FAST BOWLERS CULTIVATE THE SUBTLETIES
THE GREAT AMERICAN J. B. KING
COWIE'S METHODS A REMINDER
(By "J. C. DAVIS)
Sydney, December 2.
WHILE watching J. Cowie, the athletic New Zealand fast bowler, oper- ating from the pavilion end in the New South Wales match, one was reminded of a story told by Dr. Herbert Hordern on his return from America many years ago. It was about the extraordinary, if not unique, ability of J. B. King, who was the Philadelphia W G. Grace of cricket.
"He is one of the finest all-round cricketers I have ever seen," said H.V. "He had seen them all and played against them, including W. G. Grace, and the rest in England. “King," said Dr. Hordern, "is a first-class batsman, but it is his bowling that stands out. It embraces all kinds of bowling. He is, in fact, several high-class bowlers in one man.
so with Jack Hobbs, Ranjistinhji, and A. C. MacLaren-
Then, among very tall men, recall how the hard-hitting left-handers, Frank Woolley and Jack Gregory, kept their natural · advantage in height and spanked the ball with lordly power on the drives.
USE OF HEIGHT
The batsman with height has an
advantage over short batsmen such ney, and Vernon Ransford These
as Sydney Gregory, Charles Macart-
little men in their best form were marvels in scoring by brilliant cric- ke, with Macartney one of the most. Neither crouch-. entertaining ever.
Nor did Warren: ed in any way.. Bardsley.
It is to be hoped Sydney Barnes
"His stock ball is a fast medium with variations, from very fast to slow medium in pace. will not permanently adopt the ugly King began his career as a fast bowler pure and simple. I did not see him in those days, so my bend of the body, and strained ac- impressions' are not of that sort of bowler. He in-swerves the ball with every pace. Moreover,tion of the head, which he made his he can do it all day, more, of course, with a new ball, but always with any ball.”
Not many bowlers of class have been known to do that
without
wind-assistance. The most strik- ing Australian to do so was M. A. Noble, whose outswerve was mainly attained
through finger
action, founded, in the first place,
and
ficult for the
as
MANNERISMS GROW
own against New Zealand and West- ern Australian bowling There is
THÉY REMAIN EITHER TEAR-no need for it. He developed his AWAY NEW-BALL SWINGERS OR cricket with a different outlook on JUST STRAIGHT UP-AND-DOWN MERCHANTS WITH A SHORT the ball. He is not very tall, and PITCHED BUMPER. AND GOING should not handicap himself by re- ALL OUT ON PACE.
ducing height. One supposes it must be what
This particular case is mentioned Spofforth termed "brains" in de-only to illustrate how easy it is for on baseball knowledge and ex- the manner of George Hirst's left-veloping one's bowling. The moral a young batsman to graft on to his perience.
is that every young bowler, whe- cricket something that may be use- and developed by a hand bowling. keen-thinking
ther fast or slow, or medium pace, less persistency
ACCURACY IN LENGTH
less to him, and which certainly will The Western Australian bowler, must cultivate a mind for bowling not tend to make his batting the industry at practice few bowlers
G. Eyers, delivers the ball in some-if he aims at making good in the thing of beauty it must become. have ever been known to show.
"Though King is a right-hand-thing after the manner described, higher realms of the game.
though before he lets it go from his er," said Dr. Hordern, "he awer-
The tendency to crouch suddenly, S. AFRICAN ves after the manner of George fingers he turns his head wide away
to the right. Eyers, however, adopted by Sydney Barnes this sea- Hirst, the fast left-hander of Yorkshire; that is, across from makes the ball swing in somewhat son, gave rise to a good deal of WOMEN TENNIS the off to a right-hand batsman. similar fashion to Cowie. It is dif- comment in the pavilion at the Syd- Moreover, he is very accurate,
batsman to connect ney Cricket Ground last week. His TEAM FOR with it in a punishing stroke owing,, success notwithstanding, the ten- keeping on the spot all day.
WIMBLEDON One of it passes across the leg-stump, dency was criticised,
Barnes' to the accuracy in length.
was greatest admirers
The If some of the younger fast bow-rather perturbed about it.
Sydney crouch tends to make this young lers we see operating in were to endeavour to cultivate the batsman look anything but as good over-the-head action of the arm, as he is. It seems to be just a tem-
Johannesburg, January 6. wrist, and hand, they might intro-porary mannerism he had become
The South African women's "He places the field in a peculiar duce into their attack something infected with. It may pass as sud-team to tour Great Britain and the Continent was announced to- manner, with four men close up to much more deadly than anything denly as it appeared.
PRACTICALLY ALL THE GREAT- the batsman.' Fine leg is about they can attain by the ordinary fire- four or five yards back, mid-on is away delivery lacking in subtlety. EST BATSMEN WE HAVE SEEN IN day as follows: Mrs. Heine Mil- ENGLISH AS ler, Miss Margaret Morphew, WELL AS AUSTRALIAN, STOOD UP Miss Sheila Piercey and Miss close in, and a man like silly mid-It is well worth trying.
WELL AND GOT FULL ADVANT-' on is about six feet away.
As one watched Cowie bowling so AGE OF THEIR HEIGHT. THE TWO Olive Craze. Mrs. H. J. Fitzgër- ald will accompany the players "AT SHORT SQUARE-LEG,” CON- TINUED MR. HORDERN, “I SECUR-grandly, one wondered how he could GREATEST AUSTRALIANS. VICTOR
TRUMPER AND DON BRADMAN, as manageress. ED SIXTEEN CATCHES OFF HIM have developed his skill, steadiness ARE OF THIS TYPE:
Mrs. Heine Miller, South Afri- ON THE ENGLISH TOUR. HIS AC- in length and direction in New Zea- It was the same with W. G. Grace,ca's No. 1 player, is the best- CURACY MADE THIS EXTRAOR- land, where the standards in cricket who used to lift his bat well off the known of the four. She has DINARY PLACING OF THE FIELD POSSIBLE
many ground while standing erect, and been five times singles champion WITHOUT ANY UN-are not so high, while USUAL DANGER TO THE FIELDS. young Australian fast bowlers get watching the bowler in the act of of South Africa.
nowhere near his quality,
delivering the ball. Again, It was
EXTRAORDINARY BOWLER "King's curve is very sharp, turn- ing quickly in the last yard or two. A really extraordinary bowler, he is worth his place in any team in the world," added the Australian bosie-man.
“MAN.
"He bowls the, swerve-curve, they call it, in America-with beautiful delivery. With the cas- iest action possible to imagine his hand and arm páss over his head to the left. It is an ideal bowling. action."
NATURAL AND EASY When asked if there was not un- due strain on the bowler and his arm, Dr. Hordern said: “I suppose there must be a certain amount of strain on account of the în-swerve. Nevertheless, the delivery does not give you an impression of that sort. It is so natural and easy."
Dr. Hordern stated that nearly every bowler in America was able to make the ball curve, but few had mastered the in-swerve unless, of course, left hand.
The inerve of which J. B. King, was able an exponent is the most rear and dangerous ball bowled by Cowie. His delivery must be ver milar to that of J. B. King, for he
ags the arm over the top of his
and fires the ball seemingly 38 the wicket after
ALL OUT ON PACE
so
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Mrs. Miller To Stage
Comeback
Mrs. Miller, better known to Eng- lish followers of the game as. Misa “Bobbie” Heine, was last in Europe in 1929 when she won the British hard courts title at Bournemouth, reached the final of the French wo- men's doubles championship -and- the semi-final of the women's dou- bles at Wimbledon, and also won the Irish singles championship. She was ranked fifth in the world's first 10. that year.
LIKELY PARTNER Miss Morphew (ranked No. helped Mrs. Miller to win the South- ern Transvaal women's doubles championship and is likely to team up with Mrs, Miller for the Wim- bledon championship. Miss Craze, comes from Southern Transvaal, as does Miss Piercey, holder of the Western and Eastern Province ti- tles. Miss Craze recently won the Johannesburg singles title.
The Misses Morphew, Craze and Piercey have well earned their places in the team,
for all... three- have had victories over Mrs. A. Neave, South Africa's No. 2.