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! PRAISE FOR TASMANIANS ¡
Letter from Vice-Captain
«
Badcock and Thomas Impress
An interesting letter from R. A. Fer
rail, the Tasmanian vice-captain, yvas
received by tho writer yesterday, In
yvhich he stated that at the practice nels
on Monday afternoon Badcock. "al-
though not batllng as yvell as he can,
impressed tile ex-international. Hugh
Trum ble, yvho commented particularly
on the suppleness and poyver of his
yvrists. They (the bowler«) yvere boyvl
Ing on lils legs, and Jock yvas executing
that beautiful leg glance repeatedly, and
1 think this caused Trumblo to say,
"AVhal beautiful yvrists." I-'errall yvent
on to say that the yvlcket on Tuesday
morning yvas perfect, being hurd and
fast, like a mirror. Thomas, bowling
into a slight breeze, literally made the
ball talk. At times he yvas swinging
considerably, and a little later yvas turn-
ing perceptibly. AValsh boyvled really
yvell, though yy-lth lils usual bad luck, as
tyvo catches yvero missed in the slips.
Thomas yvas almost unplayable. Ex-
cept in the slips, where catches yvere
missed by Thomas, Ferrall and James,
the fielding yvas good. Parry gave the
best exhibition Ferrall had ever seen be-
hind the yvickets, and yvas being men-
tioned in some quarters as a possibility
for the Neyv Zealand tour, as it had been
rumoured that AValker yvould not make
the trip. Badcock's century yvas
chanceless, and as sound as over; the
only boyvler yvho gave him any trouble
being Leather, an express ti-undler of
Trembath's pace, yvho changed his pace
disconcertingly, and kept a better length
than Trembath.
A DOZEN OFFERS.
Ferrall mentioned that Badcock had
received offers to play yvith practically
ovcry one of the tyvolve "A" grade clubs
in A'iotorla, but ho had told them all thal
he yvould not decido anything until after
Hie Neyv Zealand tour. It was under-
stood that ho yvould not noyv go to South
Melbourne. So numerous yvere the in-
quiries for the young Tasmanian at the
Melbourne cricket ground on Tuesday
that yvhen the secretary of one club ar-
rived ho yvas told that he yvould have lo
get In the queue if he yvanted to seo Bad-
cock.
The Melbourne press has given tho
Tasmanians generous praise, the
"Herald" cricket yvriter, saying that "be-
fore Badcock had been batting long It
yvas obvious that a master batsman yvas
in action. His on side defensive shots
suggested Pensford. As a sound solid
run-getter, Badcock yvas convincing-a
mixture of AVoodfulI, Ponsford and ,
Bardsley."
Of Ferrall, the same yvriter said: "Fer-
rall yvas most aggressive, scoring freely
yvith sweeping cover drives." Kerrail
did not give a chance, and played yvlnit
was probably the greatest innings of his
career, losing his yvlcket by being' too
venturesome yvhen approaching his cen-
tury. His cover-driving and square cut-
ting yvere 'very powerful.
. Victoria's dismissal for only 63 is Hie
only limo a A'lctorlan sidu has boen dis-
missed before lunch, and Thomas's live
yvickets for 14 runs yvas one of the most
sensational performances seen on the
M.C.C. ground in an inter-State match.
It Is interesting to note that the aver-
age ago of the Tasmanian side is 22,
and the average height 5ft. 8in. Only
tyvo of the tyvelvo smoke, and nine are
total abstainers. ' Thomas is only l8,
Badcock 19, and AValsh 20.
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