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THE STATE TEAM.
LAST week I had reached the stage
where the positions of Inverarity and
K. Jeffreys were, in my opinion, in jeo-
pardy. During the week, it was decided
by the State selectors (Messrs. A. Randell,
F. Taaffe and A. Drew) that the final
selection would take place immediately
after the holiday games on January 29.
This means that players such as Bandy
and Herbert, if they hope to secure places,
must show good form in the next two
games. From a batting point of view it
is unlikely that the selectors will go
beyond these four players, and success or
failure in the two coming games will
almost certainly decide the fate of each
of them.
C. Fowell, who is having a splendid
season, Bill Roach, the dashing Fre-
mantle left-hander, and George Evans
the North-East Fremantle skipper, will no
doubt receive careful consideration, but
at the moment it appears that Bandy and
Herbert have the best chances of being
chosen.
The Problem of Bowlers.
The choice of our attack will doubtless
cause many headaches. This season has
been a phenomenal one from a fast bowl-
er's point of view.
C. Puckett, in his first season as an
"A" grade player, has bowled with remark-
able success. L. Mills, the Subiaco stal-
wart, has been no less successful. A.
Cambridge, who many people rarely take
into their considerations, is little behind
either of these men. And last, but not
least, R. Halcombe's form in the early
part of the season led one to believe that
he was bowling as well as ever. How-
ever, Halcombe has missed two or three
of the recent games owing to a recur-
rence of a heel injury sustained in the
games against Victoria.
Assuming that G. Eyres and A. Zimbulis
are certainties, as no doubt they are.
and that one place will go to Lovelock
as keeper, there is one place left for
which a fast bowler must be chosen.
Again assuming that the batting strength
of the team will not be weakened so as
to include another bowler. (A policy
which does not recommend itself.) This
means that Puckett, Mills, Cambridge,
and Halcombe will fight for one place. Of
the four my choice is Halcombe, despite
the fact that the other three men have
been infinitely more successful in club
games.
I have chosen Halcombe for the reason
that though he may not get a "bag" of
wickets, he is definitely more hostile than
the other three men, and he has the
ability to unsettle even the best of bats-
men. This gives the bowler at the op-
posite end a chance, because batsmen
realising that scoring from Halcombe's
end is dangerous, will take risks with
the other bowlers.
However, this is all in theory, and no
one realises more than I do that figures
are hard to deny, and whoever is finally
left out of the team will have just cause
for disappointment. Leaving myself out
of consideration, I think the final selec-
tion will come from the following:
T. Rowlands (capt.).
C. MacGUL
A. Jeffreys.
G. Eyres.
A. Zimbulis.
D. Watt,
O. Lovelock.
M. Inverarity.
M. Herbert or L. Bandy.
R. Halcombe.
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