England Recovers From Bad Start To Test

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30983, 12 February 1966, Page 3

England Recovers From Bad Start To Test

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

MELBOURNE.

K. F. Barrington and J. H. Edrich steered England passed a slump to a satisfactory score of 312 for five on the first day of the final test against Australia at Melbourne yesterday.

Coming together with two wickets down for 41 runs, Barrington (115) and Edrich (85) put on 178 at a run a minute for the third wicket.

At one stage England had scored 219 for two but the young Australian all-rounder, K. D. Walters, dismissed Barrington, Edrich and M. J. K. Smith for 19 runs in a spell of seven overs. England was then 254 for five.

However, M. C. Cowdrey (43 not out) and J. M. Parks (29 not out) improved the position with a brisk unfinished sixthwicket stand of 58.

Barrington, striking the ball superbly on the leg side, bit two sixes and eight fours. It was his sixteenth test century.

Edrich, showing his fighting qualities at first, batted more freely the longer he stayed and had seven boundaries in his four hour innings. With the test series at oneall and the Ashes depending on this match, a crowd of 29.005 watched the first day’s play.

England got off to a disastrous start when R. W. Barber was run out with 36 on the board and G. Boycott was caught off G. D. McKenzie five runs later.

Boycott and Barber played plenty of edged shots in the early stages, but they appeared tc be settling down, with the shine just going off the ball, when Barber was run out.

It was the result of an inexplicable misunderstanding. Boycott pushed a ball a few yards to the off and ran, but Barber, who said afterwards that he had shouted, “No,” did not move until Boycott was almost at his end. Barber was run out by half the length of the pitch. Played Poor Shot Boycott, probably affected by the incident, was caught at second slip when he played a poor shot across the line of the bail. Then came the retrieving stand between Barrington and Edrich.

Batting cautiously at first, but increasing the tempo later on, they extricated England from a very weak position.

By tea, when England was 205 for two, they were well on top of the bowling. Then Walters struck with his medium-pace bowling. He had Barrington caught behind the wicket off a glance at 219, and 35 runs later dismissed Edrich and Smith in one over. Mistimed Hit Edrich was caught off a mistimed big hit and Smith went in the same manner as Barrington. England seemed to have squandered the advantage which it had won after the early collapse, but Cowdrey and Parks, opening out towards the end of the day, hustled the score along and held out hope of further improvement of the position today. Australia was heavily indebted to Walters, whose three important wickets were taken at a total cost during the day of only 43 runs.

The 20-year-old New South Wales player, who made 155 in his first test innings in Brisbane in December, is fast proving himself a tremendous asset for his bowling ability as well as his batting power.

Hawke and McKenzie made little impact, although they kept the batsmen on edge in the early overs when the pitch showed a little life.

McKenzie, who was punished late in the day when he lost his length, took Boycott’s wicket at a total cost of 69 runs and Hawke conceded 63 runs without reward. With five wickets down for 254 runs, and Australia exhilarated by these successes, England was not threatened. But Cowdrey and Parks did a fine job, holding off Hawke and McKenzie with the new

ball cautiously at first and then opening out.

Their stand reached 50 in 68 minutes after McKenzie had conceded 15 runs in one over in which he w'as noballed twice, and they were still together at the end of day.

The critical question for England today is whether Cowdrey can settle back into the groove, and will Parks, F. J. Titmus and B. R. Knight give Australia a big target to overhaul.