ANOTHER WRETCHED N.Z. COLLAPSE

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30998, 2 March 1966, Page 19

ANOTHER WRETCHED N.Z. COLLAPSE

Stubborn Pollard Defies England

(By

R.T. Brittenden)

The burden of history lay heavy on New Zealand cricket yesterday, when the test team, in one of the dismal periods even the most loyal of its supporters have come to expect, all but lost the first test to England.

New Zealand, needing 197 to win the match after M. J. k. Smith had declared at 201 for five wickets, lost eight for 48 in the final agonising 140 minutes.

Only the calm courage and straight bat of V. Pollard, who batted for an hour and a half, saved New Zealand from a humiliating defeat; with him was R. S. Cunis, who approached a difficult task in his usual forthright manner.

This match had something in common with New Zealand's performance in Bombay nearly a year ago.

There. India was outplayed for two days, and even at the end. New Zealand had to bat only two hours and a half on a perfect pitch to save the game.

But to New Zealand teams, lack of opportunity to win apparently spells the prospect of defeat, and eight wickets were lost then for a handful of runs. In New Zealand’s second Innings yesterday, there was some very fine bowling by K. Higgs and D. A. Allen. But there was much w’retched hatting, three of the wickets falling simply because batsmen failed to take the elementary measure of moving their feet to get into position. Smelt Defeat So three days and a half of gplendid endeavour went very nearly for nought. It is extraordinary that a team which batted so sensibly and well in the first innings should smell defeat before victory had been given even a thought. It was dreadfully nerveless batting, on a pitch doing very little more than it had during the three preceding days.

Before the second test begins, it might be wise to call in a psychiatrist at Dunedin, to assure the New Zealanders that batting out a couple of hours on a placid pitch is no more difficult than making nearly 350 in the first innings.

Until lunch yesterday, New Zealand continued to prosper, but the collapse began long before the batting failures. In the morning, the New Zealanders soon had a wet ball to bowl with but they were all diligence, and in little more than an hour had England four down for 68—a very fine achievement. Checked Shot Bartlett bowled Russell with a beauty which cut back at him, and Cowdrey, trying to pull a short one from Motz. appeared to check his shot when he found the ball coming through low and he gave Pollard wide at mid-on a very easy catch. At that stage New Zealand was very much in the game, but Smith and Parfitt, who had restored order in the first innings, performed a similar function again. They scored 125 for the fifth ■wicket, Smith playing a staunch and. in its later stages, rollicking innings of 87. Parfitt being left with 46 not out.

New Zealand's eclipse began straight after lunch. Smith, then 28 and the total but 97, was dropped by Chapple at silly mid-on off

Puna —a sharp chance, but a very expensive miss.

England had been struggling desperately for runs until then, but from that moment Smith took charge, and his assault prospered partly because the New Zealand bowlers’ standard of performance declined very sharply indeed. Puna began with four successive maidens, but then had 23 taken off three overs. 22 of them by a boisterous Smith. Puna then changed ends but did little better, the next seven overs yielding 26. Cunis Hammered A surprising feature was the hammering given Cunis, whose control of length had been uniformly good. He bowled far too short far too often and conceded 37 in his last six overs. Parfitt drove

strongly, Smith played many magnificent drives and pulls, sometimes using an impudent sweep, against Puna, from far outside his off stump.

These two scored their second 50 together in only 40 minutes and New Zealand badly lacked a tight-fisted bowler. When the stand had realised 125 in 130 minutes — the last 75 runs in 57 minutes —Smith hit Puna high and straight but Bilby. sprinting hard, took a brilliant catch in front of the sight-screen.

Smith batted 170 minutes and hit 12 fours. Parfitt, much more circumspect, was in 144 minutes but hit seven fours. The New Zealand bowling after lunch was disappointing. Motz looked lifeless and erred in direction. Bartlett lacked his usual pace, and the other two fell away badly. Grim Recital

New Zealand needed a shade over five runs an over to win the match, and modern test match practice does not allow a rate of about 85 runs an hour.

Brown beat Bilby with a lovely late out-swinger after

10 minutes; then this grim recital followed: 4.16: Congdon caught in slips,

total 19. 4.26: Sinclair caught behind,

total 21. 4.28: Shrimpton caught at short leg, total 21. 4.47: Petrie lbw, total 22. 4.53: Chapple caught behind,

total 22. 5.00: Bartlett caught at backward square, total 22. 5.26: Motz caught at short leg, total 32.

Then the pugnacity of Pollard and Cunis prevailed, and they saw out 33 minutes of awful suspense.

Congdon got himself out, feeling, firm-footed, for an out-swinger. and Sinclair, quite unexpectedly, did the same. When Higgs defeated Petrie, he had the startling figures of four for one from 39 balls. Allowed To Dictate H e bowled admirably, with lively pace, and late outswing. But he was able to dictate, to keep a very full length and thus make the most of the movement he achieved through the air. Chapple was also taken from an outside edge, but he could be forgiven because he was handicapped by a painful leg injury and had to have a runner: not that Petrie, who performed this duty, was over-worked. Bartlett lost his wicket making an effort to dislodge a cluster of short legs which the situation and the score allowed Parfitt to use. Parfitt is not a great bowler.

Bartlett swung firmly but did not hit the ball really hard, and although it went through the close cordon it was picked up very well by Brown 40 yards away at backward square leg.

Motz batted very safely and well for about 25 minutes, only to offer a simple little catch off a ball he would, in any other circumstances, have on-driven happily. Cunis held out gamely with Pollard. Neither of these young men lack fortitude or concentration, and perhaps the highest praise that can be given Pollard would be to suggest that when he was facing, the spectators were only slightly uneasy. Little Masterpiece But Pollard did not make a mistake, and his innings, which may seem of little consequence in the score sheet, was a little masterpiece. He took upon himself the task of handling Allen, who bowled beautifully, in conditions made to measure for him, so far as the attitude of the New Zealand team was concerned. Of the last 15 overs Allen bowled, Pollard faced all but one.

It seemed a pity that Petrie got out. for while he was with Pollard things looked reasonably safe. Petrie played Allen carefully and well, Pollard handled Higgs better than anyone before or after. But they took a single, changed ends, and Higgs soon had Petrie.

Smith had only one particular worry in his’ effort to dislodge New Zealand. Not long after the innings began the light faded and an appeal against it was rejected just before 5.10 p.m.

But there were a couple of umpires’ conferences, and it might have been the prospect of play being suspended that persuaded Smith to take Higgs off when he had the wonderful figures of 7. 6, 1 4 -4s the light fluctuated, ’so Higgs came back, but onlv twice, and for only one over each time. Rapid Changes Towards the end. Smith changed his bowlers at the south end quite rapidly. Parfitt. having enjoyed more success than anyone, including himself, could possibly have expected, retired in favour of the wicket-keeper Parks. It must be rare indeed for a test wicket-keeper to take off his pads and bowl, except oerhaps a light-hearted last over of a game. But Parks tried with his leg-breaks, and he started with a perfectly pitched wrong’un to Cunis. Thereafter the stoic Cunis played him without much trouble, while Pollard’s broad shield denied Allen further success.

It must be added that if New Zealand’s score looked appalling, at least the runs total bore little relation to fact Little effort was made to score: but there was considerable relief when the total passed 26, a number which to New Zealand cricket has something of the significance of the nine of diamonds in Scots history.