End of Fiji's Successful

Cricket Season Returned Team Beats the Rest at Suva

SUVA, April 19.

FIJI’S most memorable cricket season for many years was wound up on April 18, with a one-day match be tween the representative team now back from New Zealand and the Rest of Fiji sit Albert Fiji won comfortably despite the fact that the star of the New Zealand tour, Ilekena Bula, as well as other prominent members, had gone home to outlying parts of the Group.

An official luncheon at the Grand Pacific Hotel was presided over by Mr.

B. H. Marks in the absence of the presi dent of the Fiji Cricket Association (Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna), who is away from Suva.

Mr. Marks said that the great popu larity of the team in the Dominion was due to the fact that it had played the game as a game and not as a life-and death struggle for a win. He added that the captain of the team (P. A. Snow) had not received sufficient recognition for the way in which he had welded the players into a team and had consistently obtained the best from them.

It is expected now that the financial return from the tour will be considerably better than early reports indicated.

The team’s finances were handled by the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department, and the guarantee system was not applied in the case of the five matches against the major provinces played at Auckland (two),. Wellington, Chirstchurch and Dunedin. For these matches the touring team will receive two-fifths of the gross receipts. .This means that, for instance, the Canterbury match at Christchurch netted about £5BO for Fiji.

The Hat Goes Round

And Round

IN a broadcast reveiw of the Fiji cricket team’s tour of New Zealand, the captain (Mr. P. A. Snow) thanked the members of the team and all its supporters in Fiji.

Refering to financial backers Mr.

Snow mentioned in particular the Fijian people, whose contributions were “mag nanimous.” .

This, of course, is literally true. But the ungracious cynics may be forgiven for noting that the cricket tour fund, like last years’ Tonga'n Rugby visit fund and this year’s Maori Rugby visit fund (if the visit eventuates) and heaven knows how many other funds, are all heavily augmented bv massive Fijian donations for which the uttermost isles are often ransacked.

The word goes forth and the cash comes in—more often than not from people who can ill afford to pay up and who in any case, have little idea of what happens to the proceeds of this ceaseless passmg the-hat-round. Very few of them have the opportunity of coming to Suva for cricket, Rugby or any other jamboree.

But they still nay up, directly or through bazaars, taralalas or whatnot. Why?

Two ex-Servicemen left Brisbane re cently on a 1,500 mile journey to Port Moresby in a 114 ft. Fairmile vessel pur chased last year from disposals. The vessel, the “Gremlin,” carried 1,500 gallons of fuel. Mr. Musicka, one of the crew, served for twelve years with the RAAF and was five and a nan years overseas, of which, three years were spent as a Japanese POW. His partner Mr. Whittaker, spent six years in the Navy.