Benaud Thwarts N.Z’s Chances

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28223, 11 March 1957, Page 10

Benaud Thwarts N.Z’s Chances

Of Big Lead In Test (From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, March 10. Two players, B. Sutcliffe and R. Benaud, so dominated proceedings on the second day of the second test at the Basin Reserve yesterday that they looked like men among boys. Sutcliffe made a century and so gave New Zealand a first innings lead. Benaud by taking six wickets, destroyed the middle New Zealand batting and retrieved the position for Australia. One carried the batting, the other the bowling, and their personal conflict, putting the cricket on a remarkably high plane, gave the day its savour. New Zealand’s innings was rather like the first innings in the Christchurch test. About an hour after lunch, New Zealand was only 40 runs behind Australia’s score of 215, with eight wickets standing. There was then every indication that New Zealand would establish a commanding lead, but the side was out for 249, an advantage of 34 achieved only after a prolonged and painful struggle. At the close of play Australia had scored 23 for one wicket.

The teams are:— Australia: I. D. Craig (captain). R. N. Harvey, R. Benaud, L. Favell. B. Jarman, L. Kline, R. Gaunt. J. Drennan. P. Burge. R. Simpson, and W. Watson, with J. Martin twelfth man. New Zealand: J. R. Reid (captain), H. B. Cave, B. Sutcliffe. G. O. Rabone, L. S. M. Miller. D. D. Taylor, M. E. Chapple, A R. Mac Gibbon, S. C. Guillen, J C. Alabaster, and R. W. Blair, with J. W. D’Arcy twelfth man. The striking successes of Sutcliffe and Benaud were won against a rather unusual background. The morning was fair and pleasant, but then the clouds rolled up, and they were clouds of battle. . All the afternoon the sky was grey and threatening, and the crowd was unusually silent and tense—a proper setting for a struggle of such intensity. Rolled and swept in the morning, the pitch played well, but as the day wore on the volumes of dust raised bv the pace bowlers spread over the pitch. Their footmarks became more pronounced. Helpful Wicket On this surface, Eenaud was given the little assistance he needs to make him an outstanding bowler. He was able to vary his spin, the ball came through at slightly uneven heights, he found he could afford to push the ball quicker through the air. With these weapons he established an ascendancy over all but Sutcliffe The New Zealand collapse Benaud brought about was astonishing, even in a game as full of contradictions as cricket He took four wickets in five successive maidens—three of them in eight balls. In a period of 12 overs., the New Zealand total was advanced by two singles and three byes—doldrums as fraught with peril as a hurricane, after the innings had set sail with a calm grace which bred every confidence. Sutcliffe’s century must rank as one of his greatest • triumphs There was a time when he was known as the “Golden Boy of New Zealand Cricket.” and the phrase was no empty one. In his earlier years. Sutcliffe’s bat had the .Midas touch. He could, do no wrong, and the runs flowed from him as from a deep and pleasant spring. But since he was hurt in the second test of the South African tour more than three years ago. he has not batted well against fast bowling, and his loss of confidence against pace affected the whole structure of his batting.

Bowlers’ Barrage Australian cricketers are quicker than most to exploit a flaw in a batsman’s technique, and yesterday Gaunt and Drennan subjected Sutcliffe to a sustained barrage of balls lifting from just short of a length. For 15 or 20 minutes, Sutcliffes innings, indeed, . his cricketing future, was in the balance, for failure would have made subsequent recovery all the more difficult. In * that period, he played no more than one or two false shots, but his defensive stroke was a hurried jab, his discomfort so apparent that the spectators shared it. Then the easy flow of strokes began, and before long Sutcliffe had resumed his throne. Against the fast bowlers when they came back at him, his defensive stroke was calm and elegant, and he bowed beneath the bouncer without haste or loss of dignity. Whether a really fast bowler, such as Meckiff, would now upset Sutcliffe remains to be seen. Yesterday, Sutcliffe scored 10/ of the runs, while 10 other batsmen contributed 93. He gave no chances, and while there was seldom a suggestion of the gay cavalier of earlier days, his innings lost nothing because it was based on diligence. It took Sutcliffe four hours to reach his century, and he had his head down the whole time. He played Benaud superbly, and this mastery, conflicting with the righthanders’ difficulties when facing Benaud, gave the play fascinating pattern. Tactical Battle The Australians set out to deny New Zealand runs and to keep Sutcliffe from Benaud’s end. They managed the first part of the policy well —Drennan, bowling short of a length on the leg stump to three on-side men in catching positions, yielded only four runs in a spell of 10 overs. But Sut- ■ cliffe won a joints decision so far' as Benaud was concerned. During ; the long period of crisis he had ■ much more than an even share of; Benaud’s bowling, and Benaud j never looked like getting him out.: As Drennan was Benaud’s first i lieutenant, so was Taylor, the New | Zealand batsmen's second in command. He shared a third wicket i partnership of 92 with Sutcliffe in 96 minutes, ar d with the rest of the six hours’ play yielding only 142 runs. The batting of Sutcliffe and Taylor was as confident as Reid and Taylor were at Christchurch, and the Australians looked a beaten side as the batsmen took the score along smoothly and surely—defending correctly, but hitting the loose ones with power and elegance. Rabone and Miller made their first-wicket partnership worth 55; Guillen defied the bowling and all the laws governing batting to sur-

vive for 85 minutes, an invaluable effort, and Cave made some runs quite pleasantly. Gaunt took some wickets and Watson, with his magnificent throwing. Simpson, and Jarman near the wickets w’ere wonderful fieldsmen. Deficiencies Discovered In the morning, Rabone batted far more confidently than Miller, whose deficiencies seem to have been discovered by the Australians. His insistence on playing forward to everything led them to bowl short of a length persistently, and on the few occasions the ball was thrown up Miller missed with his drive. There was one notable exception, an off-drive for four off Benaud. Miller batted 80 minutes and added 14. Rabone was beaten by Benaud. his shuffle and hasty jab suggesting the top spinner. Miller left at 81. and with , Taylor in. Sutcliffe began to assert himself. Four times in a fairly short period he all but decapitated Harvey at silly midon with pulls off Benaud, but Harvey was unmoved, in either sense.

Harvey himself had an over, but he was not able to sew an end up. as he had at Christchurch, for his over cost 10 runs, Taylor punching a 4 to mid-wicket perfectly. Benaud, in need of a rest, was merely sent to the other end. a measure of Australia’s meagre resources. Gaunt came back, but Sutcliffe pulled him hearteningly for 4 to reach 50. and soon the partnership was also worth 50, in 36 most entertaining minutes. Productive Partnership By lunch, New Zealand had scored 134 for two, an advance of 96 during the morning. The afternoon began with Taylor taking 10 off three successive balls by Kline, all with strong on-side strokes, and this partnership, the first Taylor and Sutcliffe have shared since they set a world rcord at Auckland in January. 1949. with opening stands of 220 and 286, began to assume matchwinning proportions. Drennan was brought back to bowl defencively to Sutcliffe, and Benaud adopted a similar policy for the left-hander. He bowled a long way wide of the off-stump, and after seeing Sutcliffe drive him through the covers twice, he never permitted the stroke to be made again. From time to time, a ball dropped on the line of 1 the stumps and Sutcliffe sweptor forced it off the back foot, but Benaud showed a very healthy resoect for Sutcliffe. , Benaud for a time used a rough area of footmarks, described by one player as a potato patch, about nine inches outside the left-hander’s off stump. but Sutcliffe made no error m a thrilling duel.

Calamity But at 175, an incredible succession of tragedies set New Zealand back. Benaud bowled a full toss, a rare thing for him, and Taylor missed it. In Benaud’s next over Reid tried to drive a ball fairly wide of him. and Simpson at slip took the catch beautifully. Chapple was out immediately, the ball lifting enough to touch a glove. MacGibbon stopped the hat-trick, but was ill at ease facing Benaud and Sutcliffe hastened to that end. For the right-hand batsmen. Harvey joined Simpson in slips, Watson was round the corner for the trickle from the top-spinner or wrong-’un, and there was a silly mid-off and a silly mid-on to give full expression to the change in the game. I New Zealand, within minutes of ! being on top. was struggling desI perately—not so much because i Benaud was doing improbable I things with the ball, but because he had exploited the first, rather fortuitous breach. Mac Gibbon and Sutcliffe trod a thorny path for 20 minutes while four were added, then Mac Gibbon, driving, was caught behind. Benaud. from one for 54. went to five for 54. Drennan pinned Sutcliffe down fairly consistently, and Guillen did not look likely to survive, but he clung to his batting life determinedly. By tea, the score was 190, New Zealand having scored 60 for four wickets in two hours. Sutcliffe Out Guillen was in 50 minutes be-

fore scoring his second run, but Sutcliffe, swinging Kline to leg, reached the thirty-fifth century of his career, a tremendous moment for the crowd and a moving one for the batsman, after so many hazards and snares. He was out rt 216, when Gaunt made one come through quickly, and lifting. Sutcliffe flicked it off his hip to Benaud at backward square leg. He had hit 16 fours. Seven runs later, Guillen was bowled by Gaunt, while Cave and Alabaster made some good shots, the innings came to a logical sort of end at 5.25 p.m. The Australians, never likely to miss a point, had been making pointed references to the light as the New Zealand innings drew to a close, but Favell’s appeal against it after Blair had bowled one ball was rejected. Favell appeared to stop talking, from that moment, only when the bowler was actually running up, but he rather prejudiced his case by hitting four fours off Blair's first over, three of the strokes being directly across the line of flight. With three noballs, the over cost 19 and Blair; was-withdrawn. Watson, who had made 11 in five innings in New Zealand, made another duck, chopping a ball from Cave on to his wickets.

Favell’s' persuasive powers had their regard when a further deterioration of the light ended the play an over before time. Scores:— NEW ZEALAND First Innings G. O. Rabone, lbw, b Benaud ..22 L. S. M. Millet) lbw, b Drennan 41 B. Sutcliffe, c Benaud, b Gaunt 107 D. Taylor, b Benaud ..32 J. R. Reid, c Simpson, b Benaud 0 M. E. Chapple, c Simpson, b Benaud .. .. o A. R. Mac Gibbon, c Jarman, b Benaud .. 0 S. G. Guillen, b Gaunt .. .. 6 H. B. Cave, not out .. .. 17 R. W. Blair, b Gaunt .. 3 J. C. Alabaster, c Harvey, b Benaud .. .. ..9 Extras (byes 3, Leg-byes 3, no-balls 6) .. .. 12 Total .. .. .. 249 Fall of wickets: one for 55, two for 83, three for 175, four for 175, five for 175, six for 179, seven for 216, eight for 233, nine for 240, 10 for 249. Bowling

Second Innings L. H. Favell, not out .. ..19 W. J. Watson, b Cave .. .. 0 H. Jarman, not out .. .. 0 Extras (no-balls 4) .. .. 4 Total for one wicket .. 23 Fall of wicket: one for 23. Bowling

W. M. WALLACE IN AUCKLAND TEAM (New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, March 10. The former New Zealand captain, W. M. Wallace, is a surprise selection for the Auckland cricket team to play the Australian touring team at Eden Park on March 16, 18. and 19. Wallace last played for Auckland m the 1952-53 season. Last season he coached the New Zealand team for the tests against the West Indies, and he is again coach of the New Zealand team this season. The team is: G. O. Rabone (captain), W. M. Wallace, J. H. Hayes. B. Sorenson, W. Playle, R. Harris, D. Perry. D. Coleman. D. D. Taylor, J. Sparling. J. McDonald. Twelfth man, J. Behrent.

O. M. R. w. R. A. Gaunt ..28 7 69 3 J. Drennan .. 26 10 33 1 R. Benaud .. 38 4 79 6 R. N. Harvey ..1 0 10 0 L. F. Kline ..15 5 46 0 AUSTRALIA First innings .. 215

O. M. R. W. R. W. Blair ..1 0 16 0 H. B. Cave 2 2 0 1 A. R. MacGibbon 2 0 3 0 J. C. Alabaster 11 0 0