Toss In 3rd Test May Be Good One To Lose

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30389, 13 March 1964, Page 16

Toss In 3rd Test May Be Good One To Lose

[From Our Cricket Correspondent] AUCKLAND, March 12. The damp and dismal drawn games at Wellington and Dunedin are unlikely to be repeated in the third test between New Zealand and South Africa, which begins at Eden Park tomorrow. It may well be that the scoring rate in this final match of the South Africans’ tour will again be unexciting, but there is every indication that a result will be achieved.

The weather forecast for the next two days is reasonably healthy, and the pitch, although drying out rapidly this afternoon in warm sunshine and a strong southwesterly wind, will be damp and very grassy when play begins in the morning. It seems that this could well be one of the occasions when the captain winning the toss would, with some

justification, put the other side in, for there seams certain to be considerable life in the pitch in the opening periods of play. But the pitch is becoming firm so steadily that it could very probably be better for batting on the second day than on the first. Borrowed Covers The outfield is in excellent order, but large covers have been borrowed from the Stanley street tennis courts and these will be used, if there is a threat of further rain, to cover the bowlers’ run-ups and the area surrounding the pitch.

New Zealand has four medium-pace bowlers in the 12 players named, and with the ball tomorrow morning likely to retain its shine for much longer than usual, there will be keen competition among them for selection.

The most likely candidates for the twelfth man position may be R. S. Cunis and B. L. Hampton- At the New Zealanders’ long net practice today, Cunis looked a more penetrative bowler than Hampton. But R. W. Blair, notwithstanding his useful batting effort at Dunedin, could be the player dropped, Decause his bowling against the South Africans has been somewhat mechanical. Blair’s Target Blair earlier in the season announced his retirement from first-class cricket at the end of the representative programme, but selection tomorrow could very well persuade him he is a candidate for next year’s England tour: if he reaches that conclusion, he might be capable of something really worth while. The New Zealanders were at Eden Park from 10 a.m„ and practised until 3.30 p.m., with an hour for lunch, on the ground. The captain, J. R. Reid, bowled only about a dozen balls, but said afterwards that he was quite fit to bowl tomorrow.

The South Africans, who reached Auckland from Palmerston North in midafternoon, did not practise. The swing bowler, C. G. Haise, is again suffering from a strained achilles tendon and he will not be considered for selection. The South African team will be announced tomorrow morning. Choice For 12th Man J. T. Partridge appears to have recovered fully from his attack of influenza, and the choice of the batsman to be dropped from the 12 fit players in the party is probably from P. L. Van der Merwe, A. J. Pithey and J. H. B. Waite. It would be a purblind optimist who would suggest New Zealand will win this match. But at least a better performance may be expected, and if theories about the pitch are borne out, and New Zealand can make significant progress before lunch tomorrow, it could be a keenly competitive affair. The teams are:— South Africa.—T. L. Goddard (captain), E. J. Bartow, A. J. Pithey, W. S. Farrer, K. C. Bland, R. G. Pollock, J. H. B. Waite. D. Lindsay, P. Van Der Merwe, D. B. Pithey, P. M. Pollock. J. T. Partridge. New Zealand.—J. R. Reid (captain), S. G. Gedye, W. P. Bradburn, B. W. Sinclair, S. N. McGregor. M. J. F. Shrimpton, M. E. Chapple. A. E. Dick, R. W. Blair, R. S. Cunis, F. J. Cameron, B. L. Hampton.