FINAL TEST AGAINST WEST INDIES

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27914, 10 March 1956, Page 10

FINAL TEST AGAINST WEST INDIES

CRICKET

New Zealand 203 For Six Wickets

J. R. REID UNBEATEN AT 82 IN SUPERB INNINGS

(From Our Own Reporter)

AUCKLAND, March 9.

Scoring 203 for six wickets, New Zealand enjoyed its best day of the series with the West Indies, when the fourth and final test began at Eden Park today.

It was often slow, but always conscientious batting, and New Zealand’s attempt after tea to make capital of the preliminary wearing-down policy failed through a superb catch, a foolish runout and the closing of play 50 minutes before stumps because of the poor light. One of the opening batsmen, L. S. M. Miller, played his best innings in scoring 47. J. E. F. Beck again defended stubbornly for his 38, and the New Zealand captain (J. R. Reid) played a really distinguished innings for his 82 not out. The weather until mid-afternoon was bright and very hot, but towards the end of the day a grey pall of cloud made batting more difficult, and early this evening steady rain began to fall.

The prospects for fine weather tomorrow are not good.

Although New Zealand's score was rot a great return for 310 minutes’ play, the pitch may inflate the value of the runs already made. From the start today, there was some life and ready spin in the pitch. Even now the top surface has been broken by foot and bat in forward strokes, end from the Dominion road end the bowlers have been given considerable encouragement. A. R. Mac Gibbon, for instance, was bowled by a ball which barely rose; yet S. Ramadhin’s slower and higher cne, which he bowled frequently.

lifted very sharply. This is not to suggest that it was a bowler’s pitch today; but there was sufficient evidence to support the contention of some of the players that the pitch will certainly not last three days. For a Friday there was an excellent attendance of more than 8000. The teams are:—

New Zealand.— J. R. Reid (captain), J. C. Alaoaster, D. D. Beard, J. E. F. Beck, H. B- Cave. M. E. Chapple, S. C. Guillen, A. R. Mac Gibbon, S. N. McGregor, L. S. M. Miller, D. D. Taylor, J McK. Sinclair (twelfth man). West Indies. — D. Atkinson (captain). B Pairaudeau, G. Sobers, O. G. Smith, E. D. Weekes, A. P. Binns, S. Ramadhin, A. L. Valentine, T. Dewdney, H Furlonge, A. Roberts, W. Edun (twelfth man).

Reid has played no better innings in a home test match than he did today. It was his hundredth first-class match, and had play continued till 6 p.m.. he would almost certainly have celebrated the anniversary with a century. Although he batted for almost three hours, he made no more than half a dozen false shots, and none oi them gave the fieldsmen a chance. Watchful, careful, but punishing when the opportunity arose, Reid marred his superb display only by his running-out of S. C. Guillen near the end of the day. Miller and Beck also played particularly well. New Zealand’s good fortune in winning the toss was made very obvious for a brief period when Miller and McGregor scored nine off the first two overs, but McGregor was easily taken ir. the slips when making a fullblooded attempt to drive the new ball —an ill-advised stroke so early in the innings. Miller, however, looked full of runs middling everything, and in the first half-hour he scored 18 of the 20 runs made. Dewdney, inspired by his early success, bowled particularly well, and from very little short of a length he made several balls fly awkwardly. Al though he conceded five runs in his first over, his opening spell of sever overs yielded only six runs for McGregor's wicket, and it was extraordinary that he was not called on to bowl again. He seemed to have suffered no injury—he certainly chased the ball with more energy than most of the others; and neglect of him could rot have been caused by the state of the pitch. MacGiooon defended stoutly, and it was obviously his task to defend. Although he made several strong drives, none of them got through the field, and long before he scored he gave Weekes, at slip, a very sharp chance eff Valentine. Slow Scoring Mac Gibbon had been in for almost an hour before he opened his score with four runs off the edge. He had batted for 82 minutes before he scored his first honest run. He was in for 100 minutes, and made only three scoring shots—a state of affairs which did not please many of the spectators; but by ordinary standards he batted wed enough to have made about 20. Before this match is over, his 100-minute lease of the pitch may bring in a valuable crop if theories about the deterioration of the turf are accurate. Possibly Mac Gibbons inability to keep the score moving affected Miller whose colourful start gave place to some rather drab but equally usefu* defence. By lunch, the New Zealand score had advanced almost imperceptibly to 48 for two wickets. The second period of play was hardly more successful m terms of runs and wickets, for 81 runs were scored in two hours and a further two wickets were lost. But it was thif# period which made possible the advance in the last hour or so. In the final 70 minutes of the day. New Zealand again lost two wickets, but the total was improved by 74. The bane of the batsmen in the morning and mid-afternoon was Smith. whose off-breaks turned sharply at times, and whose control of length, flight, and direction made him particularly difficult. He finished the morning with six successive maidens, and started the afternoon with six more. He was more impressive than any of the others. Taylor, after his triumphs at Wellington. received a hero’s welcome, and looked the part until he was dismissed by Valentine. When Miller made hir first indiscreet stroke, he lost his wicket. He went for a big hit off Valentine. ? n taken, as at Christchurch, by Weekes on th® square leg boundary. A fairly stiff breeze caused

the ball to swing late in it: flight to Weekes, and he was a little lucky to take a one-handed catch.

Miller made his highest test score; and he looked like making runs all the time he was in. Atkinson was perhaps slow to exploit Miller’s liking for the leg glance, but the left-hander middled the ball very well, and looked as comfortable as any New Zealand batsman during the series. He was dismissed just when it seemed New Zealand was about to get full value from his conscientious defence.

At 87 for four, the game had swung towards the West Indies: but Reid and Beck restored the balance with their partnership of 104 in two hours —the best for New Zealand in any of these four tests.

Reid has rarely batted with such circumspection, and yet with so quick an eye for the loose ball. He was helped, no doubt, by the effect of the earlier batsmen’s dour defence, and this was shown in New Zealand’s scoring rate. The times for the four 50's of the innings were 122 minutes. 82. 66. and 40. On this occasion, Reid was able to play more often from the front foot than usual, and he profited through the superb speed and strength of his straight driving, which on many occasions left the fieldsmen helpless. Beck, batting for 64 minutes before tea for only 7, helped to take New Zealand’s score to 129 at the interval; and again he won deep admiration for his tenacity. Smith dropped a hard chance from him off Atkinson when he was only 3, but Beck was unruffled. From a left-hand dasher, he has become in the last two tests one of the most difficult batsmen to dislodge. Batsmen Gain Confidence After tea, a jet plane soared and screamed across the sky, but there was much less activity on the ground. The bowling dropped on a length, as it had all day, with nagging persistence, and the scoring was slow indeed. In the first four hours. West Indies bowled 99 overs, mainly because so many were maidens; but then, as if a mist had suddenly lifted, the batsmen turned from desperate defence to confident aggression. Beck and Reid hit 4 after 4 until Beck, after a fine innings lasting a little more than two hours, cut Ramadhin and only Sobers at slip could have made so sharp a chance look so easy. Even with the loss of Beck, New Zealand’s policy of attrition would have borne richer fruit had Guillen not been run out. He looked completely confident and extremely capable, but Reid called him for an impossible run, and Smith’s fine return had him out by a clear foot. This was a mistake by Reid, but it did not detract from his own batting, which was outstanding. He has been in so far for 173 minutes; he has hit 11 boundaries; and he has made the bowling look playable as no other batsman has for New Zealand, not even Taylor at Wellington. Reid s care in defence and his tremendous vigour on attack made Atkinson’s task difficult, for the fieldsman brought up to stop the quick s'ingle was in danger of his life when the blast of Reid’s bat was felt. New Zealand might have done better than 203 for six. but in none of the other three matches has the side remained in the game so long:' it is difficult to see the positions reversed for some time at least. Parsimonious Bowling The West Indies bowling was as parsimonious as ever, and the New Zealanders wisely discard-- the shot across the line, which might have brought a few runs, for the stroke down the line, which usually did not. Dewdney was very good. Smith also bowled particularly well, but Ramadhin rarely beat the bat, and Sobers yielded runs at a reasonable rate for the first time in the series. The bowling figures were often startling—Smith’s first 24 overs cost 23 runs; Valentine’s first 34 cost only 34; and the others all had their spells of almost dramatic economy. There is one disturbing feature about the play from New Zealand’s point of view: if the pitch deteriorates, as seems likely, it will probably give the spinner more chance than the pace bowler on which New Zealand’s attack is based. But so far after so many tribulations, so good for the New Zealand team. Scores:—

NEW ZEALAND First Innings L. S. M. Miller, c Weekes, b Valentine 47 S. N. McGregor, c Smith, b Dewdney . 2 A. R. MacGibbon, b Smith 9 D. D. Taylor, lbw, b Valentine . . 11 J. R. Reid, not out 82 J. E. F. Beck, c Sobers, b Ramadhin 38 S. C. Guillen, run out 6 M. E. Chapple, not out 0 Extras 8 — i fc Total for six wickets 203 "all of wickets: One for 9; two for 45; three for 66; four for 87; five for 191; six for 203. BOWLING O. M. R. W. T. Dewdney .. 7 5 6 1 D. Atkinson . , 26 11 40 0 A L. Valentine 36 19 41 K. T. Ramadhin .. 19 7 36 O. G. Smith .. 26 17 37 1 G. Sobers .. ,, 20 7 35 oi