Page:The Crisis in Cricket and the Leg Before Rule (1928).djvu/81

72 Tate's figures show that he bowled 4344 more balls than Richardson, and it would have been more still but for the fact that in one Test match in Australia he bowled comparatively few overs owing to an injury, and though Tate has not Richardson's pace he takes a good deal out of himself. These figures are instructive and it is my opinion that the time has arrived when this country should follow Mr. Trumble's advice when he writes, "The position in Australia is rapidly becoming farcical and should have immediate attention. . . . The first move, however, should be made here." That our authorities should consider whether a request to the Australian authorities should be made to stop this elaborate artificial preparation of wickets is the opinion of Mr. Trumble, and we may hope of some other old Australian cricketers. I should have thought that the Australian cricketers themselves, especially the bowlers, would welcome a return to the old grass wicket, but they are not quite in the same position as we are. When no English team is touring in Australia, only six matches which we should call first-class are played in that country, and though this involves some long train journeys there is not the hectic rush of matches there is in England, and their English cricket tours are begun without the staleness that our men have, especially the bowlers. The fate of a bowler like Tate, who after bowling seven or eight thousand balls in England, often on artificial wickets specially prepared so as to make his labours impotent, travels thousands of miles to Australia to bowl nearly five thousand more balls under a burning sun on concrete wickets which Mr. Trumble has told us prevents the spin ball getting a grip of the ground, is truly not to be envied. The critics who spend their time