1938-06-27 — Page 18

THE CHINA MAIL, JUNE 27, 1988.

England A Better Team

THAN AUSTRALIA

Given Level Conditions They Will Not Beat Us

C. B. Fry, internationally-known authority on cricket, is writing a series of commentaries on the five Test Matches between England and Australia exclusively for the "China Mail" and "Sunday Herald" Tho third day's play in the first Test Match, at Trent Bridge, Notting- ham, appeared in yesterday's issue of the "Sunday Herald," while the first and second day's play was contained in the "China Mail"

Friday and Saturday. Below we print the fourth and final day's play.

(Exclusive To "China Mail"-By Air Mail)

C B. FRY SAYS--

on

Nottingham, June 14. EVERY village and township round Nottingham thoroughly understands cricket; the people of the city itself thoroughly understand cricket. No area of England is better furnished with the tradi- tional English sentiment of the great game. It is a wholesome high-minded sentiment.

Mr. C. B. Fry, above, the well- known authority on international cricket, concludes his series of comments on the First Test Match between England and Australia in to-day's issues of the "China

Mail".

mory of the terrible trouncing suffered on the first day.

they

We know what the gloom in Aus- tralia-must have been, so does every Australian player at Nottingham. It rankles, the thought, and must be wiped out.

*

Our bottle of energy, William Ed- rich, is broached. And docisn't he just field to his own bowling.

Verity retires. He has bowled eleven overs for 18 runs, and half of the overs maidens. He has not bowled with any luck, as he quite often beat his man.

As you may guess, Wright takes up the bowling. He, too, may hit that ́suspected spot.

Billy Brown has collected 98 runs 42 of them this forenoon, in an hour and three-quarters. He faces young Wright.

Aided by a snick past slip off the edge he goes to 99. He appears now at the other end to face Sinfield, no

run.

pretty off drive now and then off the before lunch.

Yorkshireman's carefully thought-out deliveries.

4

..

99 PLUS ONE The Don faces the eternal Verity, and Billy nearly does a suicidal run.

10 Euly has now a spare

minutas

He is opposite Edrich, and moves the ball away in front of short leg A long hour has fizzled away. The and hears the cheers for having scor- total that has accrued is 45. Browned 99 plus one. has worried 27 runs out of the bowl- He has played well for his side to- ing, the Don 16.

day; he has earned those cheers. And Wright is now bowling nicely. His that is the little sunshine drama of les the ball. He seems to trouble the

What the crowd yesterday disliked was not that the Aus-boyish face grows intense as he hand-Billy Brown. * * tralians, after following-on seriously in arrears, played for safety. What they disliked was the way in which this policy dictated by the Australian captain, was implemented.

batsmen all the time,

Don.

.*

**

*

I can tell you something. The great Australians all this match except for The cricket is interesting in spite McCabe's gallant triumphant, have of its placidity, because any moment played like the dog who is not on How was it implemented? By using the bat not as an imple-something may occur. Both batsmen top. ment of cricket, but as an implement of ostentatious obstruction. now and then fail of their defensive In level conditions of play I cannot intentions. Wright nearly had the see them beating England. They It was as though the batsmen cocked a snook at the crowd to say:

will need the favour of the toss and "Ha, ha, ha! You think you can beat us do you? Take this then!"

The eternal Verity is still in vogue the weather, and of the uncertainty the other end,, and he is bowling of cricket in order to beat England.

* well.

** He thinks there is a spot in the good length on the leg stump: On the other hand I can see Eng- and so do the batsmen, who are all ou land beating Australia with a fair the qui vive.

field and no favour. We are the bet- ter team, win or lose.

not the

It was

the manner method that annoyed the crowd. We must remember that in Australia they think their boys invincible; and defeat on the cricket field a national disaster.

The Australians are grand sportsmen but in terms of their own conception of sport; to which, of course, they are fully entitled.

When an Australian orator declares his hope that the better side may win he means Australia. And why not?

BETTER BROWN

Here is Walter Hammond from the pavilion end; Kenneth Farnes from the other. Don Bradman and Billy Brown are negotiating careful singles.

This is a better Billy Brown. Yes- terday he and Fingleton were bat- ting like two old ladies dipping round to see if their skirts were torn.

**

*

*

Easy cricket for 20 minutes. Strong bowling on an unresponsive wicket; measured strokes this way and that; no speculation, even by the Don. Cheers for the frequent maiden overs. One feature is salient. Walter Ham- mond is a fastish medium bowler, as accomplished as any we

possess. I have not seen a better -

The cricket reminds me of the words: "The daily round, the com- mond task, will furnish all we need to ask." We cannot ask for frequent accidents; we must be satisfied with our bowlers bowling their best. At noon. Sinfield comes into and soon Wright will be tried.

LOOKING FOR A SPOT:

use,

No; the change at the Farnes end is to Verity, not to Wright. And this at once awakens Brown into a bound- ary.

Clearly the idea is for Verity to bowl over the wicket on the chance of finding a rough spot where the bowlers have disturbed the surface with their feët.

#

The game waxes slow. A wag in the neighbourhood Is ́ singing that there is a tavern in the town.

Verity, with a dangling run and mook smile, is bowling Jujitsu-Binis- ter effect with force. A curious con-

to-day. I wonder why they do not give Edrich a fling; he is the sort to get the Don Lb.w. (perchance) before

too late.

HE LIKED VERÍTY

Billy Brown is now playing good cricket. He seems to like Verity within`careful reason. He produces his

No; it is slow cricket, but not dull this. There is a taut feeling about; an expectancy.

The total is 170; ‍and 68 runs have accrued in an hour and a half. The Don has 84; Brown 86 on the board.

WIPING OUT A MEMORY Oh! for a little tiny catch at the wicket in the next half hour. · Nearly we have had several.

The whole idea of the Australians is. to work past defeat and then put up a big score which will evict the me-

OLD LIQUEUR BRANDIES

FOR

THE CONNOISSEUR

· B. B. PALE OLD

F. O. V. (Finest Old Vintage)

GODET FRERES 1852

ROUYER GUILLET 1865

EXSHAW'S V. F. O. (60 years old)

NAPOLEON 1814

*

We adjourn. Total 199, Brown not 101, Bradman not 44: In two hours 97 runs have accrued.

The great Don has scored at the rate of 21 runs per hour.

It is almost a putting match. The batsmen lisped in numbers and the numbers came.

The loud speaker band is playing a tango. So to luncheon.

-BOWLERS-ON-TOP-

We resume. Australia is still 48. runs behind. Unless, as may be, they about step on it, the batsmen. will wipe off the deficit in an hour."

*

*

Quite apart from the cautious play engendered by the situation our bow- lers have all day been on top of the batsmen. Free strokes are few and

We resume with our two fast bow- Edrich. Nothing lers, Farnes and much happens. Both bowlers keep their length; both batsmen sit tight. The Don has reached 60. He has livened up. The deficit will soon be obliterated.

Edrich is firing away with vigour; but he can't keep the batsmen off their strokes as well as does Farnes. with his superior ha'ght and con sequent bounce..

IN FRONT OF SCHEDULE Variety is obtained via Verity. He is employed in place of Edrich. This at once tones down the rate of scor- ing from moderate to alow. Still, the batsmen are now moving in front of their self-constituted time schedule of 42 runs an hour.

I suppose that presently the Don will push up a century,, and maybe more, but he is not in charge of the bowling. Remember, the wicket is now, if possible, as easy for the batsmen as at noon on the first day, and our bowlers have had a duplicated task.

The deficit has been amudged off five minutes in advance of the time schedule of the Australiah scoring for the innings, NPR

We are back again to Wright, who is still full of good intent, but surely must be feeling the effects of extra hard work.septem

Had we not allowed Australia to

Kannoth ramos, Phose active hostility CALDBECK, MACGREGOR & CO., LTD. we could have doll probably

is quiet impersonal.

The Don has collected 11 runs in

45 minutes. He is a moot manœu

second innings with a lead.:

of 450, and could have given ourselves

a day to get the Australians out, and

no chance of making the rats.

(Continued on Page 19)