CRICKET NEW ZEALAND MAKES 417 FOR EIGHT

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26375, 20 March 1951, Page 8

CRICKET NEW ZEALAND MAKES 417 FOR EIGHT

England 63 For One Wicket HUTTON BOWLED BY MOIR FOR 28 Resolute, not P articula rly entertaining, batting by W. M. Wallace and W. A, Hadlee, a rather unexpected partnership of 80 for the seventh wicket by F. L. H. Mooney and T. B. Burtt, and the capture of L. Hutton’s wicket for 28 runs have placed Niew Zealand in a very favourable position in the test match against England at Lancaster Park. On the second day yesterday, New Zealand’s score was taken from 247 for three wickets to 417 for eight wickets at the tea interval, when i a j , are d the innings closed. At the end of the day England had lost Hutton’s wicket and the score was 63. Hutton was bowled by the Otago leg spinner, A. M. Moir. The dismissal of Hutton will have given the New Zealand team a great fillip, but it will have drawn almost as much encouragement from the way Moir was able to turn the ball in the closing overs of the day. The pitch is showing the first signs of powdering, and to-day the English batsmen may find the spin bowlers increasingly hard to counter. The day s play was notable for an incident possibly without parallel in test cricket. C. Washbrook, one of England’s opening batsmen, was given out leg before wicket to the first ball bowled by G. F. Cresswell. Hadlee spoke to Washbrook as the batsman walked out, and then conferred with the umpire who had given him out, Mr S. B. Tomkinson, of Dunedin. Washbrook was then recalled and continued his innings. Apparently he had snicked the ball on to his pads. The appeal was made by Mooney, the wicket-keeper, who was unsighted by the batsman. 6 There was a crowd of 10,000 at the park, and the gate takings were £1420, making a total of £4257 for the two days.

New Zealand's tatting yesterday gave some basis to the suggestion that Hadlee's tactics from the start of the match have been to bat as long as possible, so that should England obtain a first innings lead, too little time would be left for the visiting team to force a win on a pitch which seems likely to deteriorate steadily for the remainder of the match. If this has been his policy, it has succeeded so far, and at the same time it has given his bowlers a chance to put England in a losing position to-day. England still needs 205 runs to avoid Uie followon, and although nine wickets are standing, the latting order looks a little fallible about the middle. However, New Zealan , has a stern task ahead to-day. Washbrook, R. T. Simpson, and D. C.- Ji. Compton, at their best, are magnificent batsmen, and the next four in the order have all made good scores in test cricket. Hadlee's Micawber-like captaincy may not have pleased some of the occasional spectators, but even if slow scoring was the order of the day for the New Zealand batsmen, they were aided in its commission by the English bowlers, who for considerable periods appeared to concentrate almost entirely on defensive tactics. With prospects of an English victory receding with the minu es, Brown consistently left the initiative to the batsmen. If they wanted to score quickly, they had to court the very likely prospect of abrupt dismissal. Light showers are forecast for today. but their effect on the pitch is almost unpredictable. They could halt the process of dete’ioration. and they could perhaps help the bowlers. Dismissal of Hatton The dismissal of Hutton 10 minutes before the close of play was a major tragedy for England. Hutton plays his cricket under the handicap of being the best batsman in the world, but his crown does not appear to weigh him down unduly. Yesterday he batted nearly an hour and a half for his 28 runs, and although, as his scoring rate suggests, he did not indulge in any extravagant notions about fast scoring in a test match, he gave sufficient indication of his extraordinary skill to make the spectators wish for more. His dismissal, in fact, will probably be felt at the turnstiles. It was another excellent day for cricket, and another good one for the game m New Zealand. Wallace, who took his score frqm 32 to 63, batted another two hours and a quarter, making four and a Quarter in all, and he was very much sounder than on the first day. The full value of his innings has yet to be felt. He was painstakingly slow, but shunned every manner of temptation most virtuously, and his concentration on the task in hand did mm great credit Even when he is not scoring, Wallace is well worth watching. His innings yesterday was his mghest in test cricket, and it was probably the most selfless because it could n< ?J have be en more so. His partnership with Hadlee added 94 for the fourth picket, at a critical time for New Zealand ana although his innings was not flawless, he made nearly all his strokes In his own nch ly gifted style. Hadlee, on the other hand, played tee innln g? of a Jekyll and Hyde. His concentration for quite long periods was intense, but at intervals he gave new hfe to the bowlers by flashing his bat at balls running away outside the off stump. This would be followed by an almost guilty resumption of his but not Hadlee at t K2. e s ther role - However, Hadlee cannot bai for more than a few minnn? cr ? ket hi him comes outj and he played some of his best “J d ™°tt graceful strokes. He reached 50 in two hours and a quarter, and was then well caught by Brown in the when attempting to hit a round h^’rd hng^irO T B , ?i J ey t 0 the scoreoS? r / d '_ f he left, the score was -kets, and 10 run s later a. K. MacGiboon was out, well beaten by a beautifully-pitched wrong'un from ■ V' Until lunch Mooney " IS? st “happy, but at the interval there 80016 Was 32 and be was stdl

An Unorthodox Batsman Wallace was out at 335, and the English have ' elt wlth Justification that the end was not far awav RnrH Se^d^t^e^X^*” 6 °"' °' them has in hi. "? £ batsmen who have made a dlsproportion•te number of their runs through inadyeslfnt and qul £ un ' or <ivable snicks, he 5 the n uS pU f> ?H rt K S name at the head £ urtt ha * P erha P« the keenStekSX L^ Un ?^ r °' aU N;w Zealand cncretera, ard this may not be unconnected with the fact that he always aSCerVHniv 4 his hatting very seriously. Certainly his record in tests is a more M? Rn^.r’tl,n n^i bUt y« ste , rda y he offered Mr Robertson-Glasgow’s “One-wav Boy" vety serious competition. Most of hte . . ™ ns were scored in directloßs offered*"!* to the stroke he offered at the ball, a stratagem which w™nv n r dy . “^ hes the fieldsmen on the h»d P? rtn ership with Mooney “ d ring w,th excite2 « laughter. The sight of Burtt *“ ,d l x f '°T ard u def ensive shots, backdrives - and other « defined strokes all in the direcJ ne le f. V s snou 8h to reduce the After P h2 ?, m 2 t C A OW < L r ‘° black desnair he , had made about 25 largely in this singularly unorthodox style and had done everything but get out a dozen Bu . rtt began to cut. and cut per-

/aMi,. _ j aim cut per- £££ “ nd J"ost effectively The English earii7^ S^i7 1 <r BmeriSed Perhaps by the ♦hi. ines ‘ on - appeared to think that t™? J'®* «ome new sort o' mis-bit Burtt “♦T’r lb 611- mortification, and E’A’VK 1 ’ the stroke, after reinbehind the wickets. acrei^.^mi^ Ie I!L5 ea L and cri cketers wUI to rt 2» best—it would be unkind £. K.?! Uy T s ! roke - and he promptly cut S e .. 1 bal L between the two newlySurtJ°h e j jui’y. fieldsmen. By this time bat rt lnd a h found he had a middle to nis gyjtod he used it quite effectively. and to TS: “L to make 42. his highest score Ptavto? nu£2lL ey meanwhile, nad been ftsns? almost studiously, as himself as much as Ss J*H.rS?, at the other Set linirte. H, Pa r ra -’ some very •need ♦b.hL-.o 1 Justily each time w b«sman had another 10 rum

a ? ainst h ‘« name on the board. By the . En Bfish bowling had , a slightly disorganised look, and little wonder. Compton was brought on. and gave away 20 runs in four overs. Mooney : n° r ‘ ng J? qu !? ly with on-drives which Brown did nothing to check. At 415, this „P lke . Jones item in a programme of chamber music, came to an end. Mooney moved down the pitch to Tattersall and was stumped, and two runs later Burtt £ a Yf d D hls bat va B ue >y at a straight one from Brown and was bowled. Hadlee de f oro .^ ly declared the innings An y thln g more would have been anti-climax. The English Bowlers The best of the English bowlers yesterday were Wright and Bedser. with Statham a close third. Wright bowled fewer loose balls than on the first day, and bowled more good ones. He was again most unlucky, but by now he has perhaps become accustomed to that. He *?? ed "u ? n sharply at times, ana ne had all the batsmen worried with the pace at which he can bowl his leg break, and still turn it very appreciably. He should be even more useful to England a L* . Basin Reserve, and even the most ardent New Zealand supporter will wish nun to reap, if only occasionally, the reward he so often deserves. Bedser was again very hard to score I ™'„.S ro J >p .‘ ng ,. the ball tost short of a but when he attacked, as he did the new ball after lunch, he was brilliant. He was the only English bowler a £°. od length bal > lift, and although he did it only occasionally, he took Wallaces wicket with one which came in as it lifted, and gave Brown in tne leg trap a catch off the batsman’s Statham was at his best in his speH of seven overs in the morning, and to e .. la ®t of the seven was the best. Twice d h ? beat Wallace He made the ball move both ways, and Brown must have been very loth to rest him when he did. Bailey, even more than the others, concentrated on keeping the scoring rates in check, and he did this with success. He bowled some .good .overs,, but presumably bacaus® he was unable to bowl what are now orthodox bumpers, he made rather too frequent use of the,fast full pitch. This caused the batsmen little inconvenience, and it argued a lack of initiative on Bailey s part. Tattersall was not impresand Brown, bowling mainly swingers, was inexpensive. The fielding * a L no J tb u e standard although most of the throwing was superb. Wash“vers made one fine save, he l°? ked very listless and almost disinterested. He made more ” Rln'LJ >ne m ,*Bbt have expected from in?' ,„ Baile ?i ,n field as when bowlS ther > like a , coiled spring, and x eXtr J??S y well - Simpson also beautifully, and Statham was one h f a J h H^ St “L? I*® 1 *® “‘hers. Evans had a ? add , ay ' makin 8 frequent errors, but again he made some wonderful saves Englands innings began 100 minutes and bo ‘h Hutton and Washbrook, although subjecting the bowluCar'lu‘ mutiny, looked comforta"*■ . Hutt®” B first scoring shot, a sort nf J? » ! . ayed ° a his bip, smacked of quality, and later he cover-drove G F Cresswell to the boundary with the best stroke of the match. It was perfect. Hutton, in spite of a failing light—an appeal was disallowed 20 minutes before sto m P»—Picked U P bis runs easily and gracefully, as if they were his for the taking. He was bowled, with the score by „ ? a ° ir - The ball, cleverly flighted, pitched a good length on the leg stump and turned across Hutton's defensive stroke to take the off stump. Washbrook, who earlier had scored with safe shots behind square leg and perlectly controlled on-drives, took some risks in pulling good length bowling off his stumps in the closing stages, but he is still in and will no doubt be a problem to-day. If Moir never takes another wicket in first-class cricket, he will be remembered for the ball with which he bowled Hut- I ton- The craft of spin bowling has not flourished in New Zealand for manji a year, and Moir's success at Hutton's expense may have an effect which will last longer than the fine it wiU be given in the scorebook. The cricketers of to-mor-row—and there were plenty of them on the ground—could hardly fail to be impressed by Moir's start, just as a local Lindwall might encourage a crop of fast bowlers. Moir, in his last two overs, beat R. T. Simpson three times, and might well ha a taken his wicket. J. A. Hayes bowled very accurately at a good pace, and Cresswell did not give much away. J. R. Reid, given the new ball because he usually bowls accurately was erratic, but Mac Gibbon bowled better than he has done for a long time. In seven overs he achieved four maidens, and his length and direction were good. More than that, he bowled with more fire than the others, and his bowling was most encouraging after his indifferent form in the representative matches. The match will be resumed at 11.30 a.m. to-day. The umpires are Messrs S. B. Tomkinson (Dunedin) and E. G. Brook (Christchurch). Scores:—

NEW ZEALAND First Innings B. Sutcliffe, b Statham .. ..116 V. t. Scott, b Bailey .. .. i g 1. R. Reid, b Wright ”50 W. M. Wallace, c Brown, b Bedser .. 66 7- - E**!**:' Brown, b Bailey .. 50 A. R. MacGlbbon, lbw, b Wright 4 £ t *1; **ooney, st Evans, b Tattersail 39 T. B. Burtt, b Brown .... 42 A. M. Moir, not out "0 Extras (byes 16, leg-byes 16, wides 1, no-ball 1) 34 Tot I for eight wickets declared 417 Fall of wickets: one for 37 (Scott), two tor 168 (Reid), .three tor 203 (Sutcliffe). to ! IBadlje). five tor 307 (MacGibbon), six for 335 (Wallace), seven for 415 (Mooney), eight for 417 (Burtt). ■ BOWLING

O. M. R. W. A. V. Bedser . 41 10 83 1 T. E. Bailey . 39 9 51 2 B. Statham . 24 6 47 1 R. Tattersail . 16 3 48 1 D. V. P. Wright . 27 2 99 2 F. R. Brown . 15.2 3 34 1 D. C. 8. Compton 4 0 21 0 ENGLAND First Innings L. Hutton, b Moir ?8 C. Washhrok, not on 31 R. T. Simpson, not out 0 Extras (byes 4) • • • e 4 Total for one wickets 63 Fall of wicket: one for 57 (Hutton). BOWLING O. M R. w. J. A. Hayes .. 7 0 15 0 J. R. Reid .. 3 0 11 • A. R. MacGIbbon .. 7 4 13 0 G. F. Cresswell .. 6 1 15 0 A. M. Moir .. 5 3 5 1