Gloucestershire are a sporting gaunty so it will be assumed. that their satisfaction at Goddard's gueees in winning the second Test Match for England at Old Trafford will duly outweigh their sense of hardship in naving to meet Yorkshire—with disastrous results—without Hammond, Barnett and Goddard himself, Hutton's absence from the Yorkshire team was far less serious a handicap than that carried by the losers, The English victory is not impressive to those who are anxious to assess the possibilities of finding a team good enough to give the Australians a run for their money next year. The New Zealanders are a fine combination but no-one has so far pretended that they are up to the highest Test standards and they carried off so much of the honour at Old Trafford ihat England's mediocrity has to be admitted,—Hutton's success, apart from Goddard's destruction of New Zealand hopes, is almost the only consolation, for it must be remembered that Goddard is'37 and although that does not exactly put him in the "old gentlemen's class", it is a factor which justifies doubt of his ability to maintain the pace necessary for five Say Test cricket, Verity has apparently been relegated to the ranks of the "possibles", English bowling can shine on occasions, but it lacks consistency and, especially, the sting which is so essential for Test cricket. Even the English batting has its weak phases for Cowie seems to have run through the team just as God^ -d did when his turn came. It will be interesting to see what the selectors wil do when the Third Test has to be played. They have an unenviable task; the England team in the making has yet to be found
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.