16 MAY 1931, Page 3

Cricket Cricket alone among our home industries appears to have

escaped the blizzard of world-wide depression. Imperial Preference bids us welcome the New Zealand XI, who have already tasted our blood. They appear to be a strong, if not a formidable, team, and their tactics in the field show the enterprise and the readiness to take a chance which one would expect in sportsmen whose visit to these shores was partly made possible by a lottery. The new system of scoring for the County Championship, with its heavy premium on a victory on both innings, has produced admirable results in some of the opening matches. If _Gloucestershire's last-minute win over Surrey is allowed to set the pace of the rest of the season, cricket will come into her own again as an entertainment.