Motz Magnificent

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30763, 29 May 1965, Page 13

Motz Magnificent

At 232 for three wickets, England was comfortably placed after the first day’s play. Play yesterday was reduced to 303 minutes by rain and dull light but on a pitch of easy pace the bat seldom maintained mastery for more than a few brief periods. And the crowd of 4000 saw’ to it that in the last hour England’s batsmen knew of its displeasure at the scoring rate. Motz Day’s Hero All five of England s batsmen seen so far have made scores of some value, but the one personality to emerge from the play was the New Zealand fast bowler, Motz, who took all three wickets and whose persistent attack in circumstances usually difficult won much admiration The Edgbaston pitch is usually expected to give seam bowlers some encouragement before lunch on the first day,: but a shower which swept the ground half an hour before play began gave the New Zealand bowlers a ball which soon be came wet and lost its shine

However, a second shower later in the morning gave them the only period in which this pitch showed animation, and it was then that Motz bowled Barber with a ball which persuaded the left-hander into an on drive but left him and knocked the off stump out of the ground. Only once a chance was dropped—by Dick, when Cowdrey on 39 flicked one from Collinge, and the wicketkeeper, moving to the left in anticipation had to go to the right again and failed to hold a sharp chance just above ground level. But there were many edges and many occasions in which the batsmen were badly beaten. England's batting was distinctly haggard, except for a bright opening made by Barber and Boycott. There were times when .Dexter batted with the style and authority expect ed of him, and he made some sumptuous strokes. The power of his driving when he really* timed the stroke was frightening, and he gave Cameron a bad time early in his innings.

Two Inept Strokes Barringion, iuo, has had a dreadful run of failures, and he batted three hours and a quarter yesterday and achieved but two boundaries.

Cowdrey, also, played much below his best. He began well enough, and there was a first hint of mastery in the ease with which he hit Cameron from outside the off stump to the mid-wicket boundary, but he progressed from 10 to IS with two very inept strokes. One went shoulder high off Motz just wide of Congdon, who was the only slip, and another edgy one off Cameron which almost carried to Congdon and bounced over his hands to run to the boundary. Motz gave a lion-hearted display all day. He maintained his pace and particularly his direction with extraordinary success, and batsmen were hardly ever allowed the luxury of allowing a ball to go unplayed.

He was at their throats persistently, sometimes beating bat and thundering the ball into the pads.

Cameron flung himself into a tiring task with all his usual zeal, but he appeared to make one important mistake. When the ball was doing nothing he kept it up and was driven, but when for a while he was able to move it off the pitch he bowled rather too short rather too often. However, he kept trying very hard all day and so did Collinge in his shorter spells. Pollard all but bowled Dexter soon after he came on, but thereafter was not a puzzle, and Congdon at the end of the day did a useful job in restricting the scoring.