CRICKET IN NEW ZEALAND
By P. F. WARNER
It was on 12th November 1902 that I started from Liverpool as captain
of a team for New Zealand. This was my sixth cricket tour abroad, and
Lord Hawke was originally to have captained the side; but the sudden
illness of his mother prevented his starting, and he did me the honour
of inviting me to lead the side in his absence. Those, like myself, who
have had the good luck to go on tour with Lord Hawke know full well
what his absence meant, for his unrivalled powers of management, his
tact, influence, and close attention to detail are important factors
in the successful conduct of a cricket tour. Though the Yorkshire
captain, to the regret of every one on the side, and of no one more
than myself, was unable to accompany us, the team was everywhere known
as “Lord Hawke’s team,” and we wore his colours—dark blue, light blue,
and yellow—so well known on cricket grounds all over the world. The
side Lord Hawke had got together was a good average English county
team—that is to say, if it entered for the county championship it
would at the end of a season probably be found halfway up the list, and
possibly higher—and consisted of P. F. Warner, C. J. Burnup, F. L.
Fane, T. L. Taylor, E. M. Dowson, B. J. T. Bosanquet, J. Stanning, P.
R. Johnson, A. E. Leatham, A. D. Whatman, Hargreave, and Thompson.
The _Majestic_ of the White Star Line made a quick passage to New York,
whence we were whirled across the American continent to San Francisco,
learning on the way that railway speed in America does not necessarily
imply safety, for we had a couple of accidents, one of which ended
fatally to a fireman, which delayed our arrival at San Francisco. Here
we spent a couple of delightful days, on one of which we played and
defeated XVIII. of California. Leaving San Francisco on 27th November,
we stopped on our long voyage across the Pacific at Honolulu and Pago
Pago, eventually arriving at Auckland on 16th December. A few days
later we began the first match of the tour, and from then until 6th
March we were kept pretty hard at work, travelling about the country
and playing cricket. We played in all eighteen matches—eleven against
odds—and won them all, not a single game being lost or drawn. This
was in itself a wonderfully good record; but cricket in New Zealand
is at the present moment up to no very high standard, and the results
of three-quarters of the matches were a foregone conclusion before a
ball had been bowled. We had a close game with a West Coast XXII. on
a matting wicket, only winning by five wickets (on this occasion we
had a long tail, for Bosanquet and Dowson were away fishing), and the
Canterbury XI. and the New Zealand team in the first test match gave us
a fair game; but we were almost always winning comfortably, most of our
victories being gained in a single innings.
The New Zealand XI. were a very fair side, but they were in no way
equal to us, for we won both matches easily, the first by seven wickets
and the second by an innings and 22 runs. In both of these games we
lost the toss, though in the first match it was probably an advantage
to do so.
There were but seven eleven-a-side matches—against Auckland,
Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, South Island, and the two New Zealand
games. Auckland, South Island, Otago, and the second test match were
won in an innings, Wellington were beaten by ten wickets, Canterbury by
133 runs, after declaring our innings closed, and the New Zealand XI.
in the first test match by seven wickets.
The two best batsmen in New Zealand are D. Reese of Canterbury and K.
Tucker of Wellington; and it is remarkable that they should stand so
clearly out from the rest. Of the two, Reese is, perhaps, the better.
He scored two hundreds out of the eight innings he played against
us—111 for Canterbury and 148 for New Zealand in the second test match
at Wellington. He is undoubtedly a fine left-handed batsman—very
similar in style and method to H. G. Garnett of Lancashire—with all
those brilliant off-side strokes so characteristic of nearly all
left-handed batsmen, and particularly good on the leg side. His weak
point is in the slips, where he is apt to give a chance on first going
in. Besides his batting, Reese is by no means a bad left-handed slow
bowler, and a beautiful field at extra cover—in a word, a thorough
cricketer. Tucker is a sound batsman who watches the ball well, has
a good off drive and cut just behind point, and a very clever stroke
between mid-on and short leg, which he uses to great advantage. He
nearly always got runs against us, scoring 84, 50, 67, and 21 in four
out of six knocks. On a rather difficult wicket at Christchurch,
when our bowlers were turning the ball, he played very good and safe
cricket—not so brilliant, perhaps, as Reese, but sounder, and a cool
player. Leaving Reese and Tucker out of the question, there is no one
in New Zealand who can be classed as a first-class bat. There are many
very fair batsmen, who, with coaching, and with more practice and
experience, would probably become first-class, but judged merely by
what I saw, Reese and Tucker are the only two men whose batting attains
to anything like first-class form.
The bowling is infinitely stronger than the batting, and is really
quite good, Callaway—whom Mr. Stoddart will remember as bowling well
against his 1894-95 Australian team—Frankish, Downes, Fisher, M’Arthy,
and Upham being quite useful. Frankish and Fisher are left-handed
medium pace, Upham is a fast right-hander, Downes slow right, and
M’Arthy medium right.
Frankish, in my opinion, is the best bowler in New Zealand, for he
keeps a good length, being especially difficult to drive or force
forward, and with a nice high action makes the ball swing a good deal
with his arm. On all wickets I should consider him distinctly the best
bowler we played against.
Downes, even on a hard, true wicket, gets a great deal of work from
the off on the ball, but his action is distinctly doubtful, and in
the first test match he was twice no-balled by Charles Bannerman for
throwing. He had bad luck against us in more than one innings, several
catches being missed off his bowling. Downes is a splendid trier and a
plucky, hard-working cricketer who can bowl all day quite cheerfully.
On a sticky wicket he is bound to be very difficult, and it was on a
pitch of this sort that he and Fisher dismissed the Australian XI. of
1896 for less than a hundred runs.
Callaway keeps a very accurate length, and generally makes the ball go
across with his arm, though, when the wicket helps him, he can bring
the ball back pretty quickly. Upham and M’Arthy can both make the ball
break, but they bowl too much at the leg stump, and not enough at the
off and outside the off stump. Fisher has a good action, but does not
like being hit, and is, perhaps, rather past his best.
The wicket-keeping all over New Zealand is good—even in the smallest
places we met a respectable “stumper”—and Boxshall and Williams are
above the average, both of them being particularly smart on the leg
side.
In the odds matches our opponents let an unwonted number of catches
slip through their fingers; but the fielding of the New Zealand XI. was
decidedly smart in both matches.
The visit of the team undoubtedly did good, and cricket may be expected
to go ahead rapidly in the next few years. More professional coaches
from England or Australia are wanted, and greater efforts should be
made to induce the Australians to send over teams. Lack of funds has in
the past militated against the spread of cricket; but the New Zealand
Cricket Council, who engineered the tour, and nearly all the local
centres, made money out of the gate receipts, and as a keen enthusiasm
has been aroused, improvement in the future should be rapid.
There were too many matches against odds, and too much travelling and
rushing about; but we saw New Zealand from end to end, and everywhere
we were received with the greatest hospitality.
One word more. The loyalty and devotion of my companions made the
oft-times difficult task of captaincy a joy and a pleasure, and any
success which may have attended the tour—and I think I may safely say
it was a success—was due entirely to the support and confidence they
at all times gave me.
[Illustration:
_From a Painting attributed to_ _J. J. Chalon, R.A._
_OLD CHARLTON CHURCH AND MANOR HOUSE._]
[Illustration]