Calypso Challenge
By TRAFFORD LORD
WE don't play cricket for fun,' said Sir Leonard Hutton, and his view is apparently shared to a man by the present England side, with the probable exception of the jaunty, irrepressible Evans. A more boot-faced and phlegmatic-looking lot than represented us at Birmingham it would be hard to find; if they do enjoy themselves, they conceal their emotions ad- mirably. All through the ebb and flow of the Edgbaston Test one saw hardly a flicker of a smile cross an Englishman's face—surely a pity, for it was a fine match played in an admirable spirit and lovely weather. It was, in fact, meant to be enjoyed.
The trouble is that first-class cricket in Eng- land has become subtopian. It is played in the 'red brick' manner by 'red brick' characters with 'red brick' outlooks. There are, of course, excep- tions, but those who, like Compton, retain their individuality serve only to emphasise the grey anonymity of their contemporaries. Unfortu- nately, 'red brick' cricket efficiently played seems to win matches. Witness Surrey's success in re- cent years. Technique is now all-important and largely excludes personality. In the old days great professional batsmen like Woolley or Hendren batted like the amateurs on whose standards they had modelled themselves; today the leading amateurs May and Cowdrey bat, finely it is true, just like professionals.
None of this would matter at all, if the end- product were not so tedious to watch. Pious addicts still watch the game out of habit, but the more discerning general public stays away in droves and limits itself to the 'telly' and a largely statistical interest in Test matches. That is why the experimental reforms introduced this season on the recommendation of a well- qualified MCC committee are so important. Only one of the new rules—that limiting the boundaries to a maximum of seventy-five yards—deals with a state of affairs which could not have been rectified without legislation given a different out- look on the part ,of the county captains as a Whole. It is no surprise, therefore, that the seventy-five yards rule is generally considered the best of the bunch; the other rules, dealing with the number of leg-side fielders, bonus points for faster scoring in the first innings, and time- Wasting, make little apparent difference to the game from the spectators' point of view.
You cannot, after all, legislate for the mentality of the players—any more than you can persuade People to drive politely on the Kingston by-pass by making them Knights of the Road or members of the Evening Standard Courtesy Drivers Club. It is impossible for Trevor Bailey to come up from Westcliff-on-Sea and look at the game like C. B. Fry or F. S. Jackson. The England side of 1902 included a classical scholar and meta- physician placed ahead of F. E. Smith at Wad- ham, a future Governor of Bengal, and an Indian ruler who was later to head his country's delegation to the League of Nations. No one would, I think, claim similar positions for any of our present England players, though, of the selectors, I have sometimes fancied Washbrook to relieve Lord Goddard. Reluctantly one must face the fact that times have changed.
Yet from the Caribbean comes a gleam of hope. For our West Indian visitors positively enjoy their cricket. They do not go in for 'gamesman- ship,' they often hit the ball in the air, they are not overcoached or impressed with pure tech- nique. They may not win the rubber—their bowling, Ramadhin apart, seems too frail for that; but they will prove formidable opponents in a dry summer. More important, they have already taught us a valuable lesson or two on the field. I recall particularly Atkinson bowling to Close at Lord's being the first to clap a fine aggressive stroke for four off his own bowling; Goddard, the captain, coming in with forty minutes to go at Edgbaston and passing the outgoing batsman twenty yards from the pavilion steps—these are proper cricket courtesies, of which all who see the West Indians will soon have their own memories.
Now that the teams are at Lord's for the second Test match, I hope we shall see some signs of enjoyment from the England team. This summer, at least, they should play cricket for fun; it is, after all, a game.
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