A DOUBTFUL TOSS

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31321, 17 March 1967, Page 13

A DOUBTFUL TOSS

If the Australian captain, Favell, is beginning to feel Sinclair’s fortune with the toss is taking him beyond the bounds of propriety, there must have been mixed feelings about New Zealand having first use of a pitch carrying grass in considerable quantity.

These doubts were increased as the Australian bowlers found edges steadily. They might have won more rewards had they bowled at the stumps a little more regularly in the opening stages, but Frost looked penetrative and of very good pace. After weeks of batting plenty, it was famine for Dowling. In difficult circumstances, he never seemed in touch, and after 35 minutes of hard labour, he played on to Frost.

Congdon was no more comfortable than Dowling had been. His habit of getting square on makes him very vulnerable when the ball is seaming, and he was in dreadful trouble almost throughout his innings of an hour and a quarter.

Determination kept him there while 69 runs were made for the second wicket, but just before lunch, he hit across a leg-break from Philpott, and Davies at slip was able to run across and take an easy catch. Jarvis Matured Jarvis was beaten less often by far than his partners, and his batting has matured delightfully in the hot-house of these international matches. He looked very much more in command than might have been expected in such conditions, but Frost had him with an out-swinger soon after lunch.

Sinclair and Pollard provided the partnership which promised most. For a little while Sinclair’s timing was astray, but soon he was on the same comparatively comfortable terms with the bowling as Pollard, whose bat made lovely, mellow sounds. Both of them, but Sinclair in particular, used fleet feet to attack Philpott, who had 21 taken from four overs. But when they had made 43 in 46 minutes. Pollard mis-hit a hook off Connolly, and when the ball fell safely, attempted a second run. A brief hesitation did not help, and Favell’s return beat him home.

When Sinclair went, New Zealand was 159 for five, and the loss of these batsmen were grievous blows. Sinclair,

going forward, could get only the bottom of his bat to one from Davies which lifted a little, and Jarman made a swift stumping. On t his pitch, the hook shot was highly dangerous, and Thomson should have been out when he too mis-hit Frost. Favell at square leg misjudged the arc of the ball badly.

But there was a lovely moment when Thomson hit Frost magnificently into the covers, only for the lithe, lean Booth to swoop on it left-handed. Then Thomson square cut strongly and cleanly for 4, but his batting remained threadbare. At 18. an edge off Connolly all but went to Davies at second slip, and Thomson spent an agonising couple of overs playing and missing at Connolly. To balls pitched outside the off stump and swinging away, his bat darted out repeatedly and missed, like the tongue of an out-of-sorts chameleon.

But Thomson and Yuile battled on, to reach the stage where, with Frost and Connolly off to await the new ball, there was a prospect of a counter-attack. But young Davies, bowling his legbreaks with excellent control, kept them very subdued. Yuile’s Service Yuile made some firm pulls now and then, a couple of good-looking off-side strokes, but when the pair had added 56 in an hour and a quarter, he was well taken by Burge forward of square from a well-struck pull. Yuile had given excellent service; and had been the butt of a little jest by Booth which typified the excellent relationship between these teams. Yuile discarded his bat to polish his spectacles. Booth took the bat, and hid it behind him. There was a delicious moment when Taylor came out to bat. The Australians, who have every reason to respect his punishing powers, vigorously waved him back to the pavilion, as if he were a beginner in the local dramatic society coming in on the wrong cue. Taylor, however, inevitably held the stage. He came in only six overs before the new ball was available ,and he did not get quite his full share of the bowling. But there was a skimming cover drive for 4 off Davies and, in the same over, a powerful on-drive for the only 6 of the day.

When the new ball was taken, at 234, with an hour to play, Frost had two slips, but otherwise had his field dispersed tellingly. He bowled with a respectful width, too; but Taylor, with

his tremendous reach, cover drove a 4 and two balls later simply shovelled away another to the boundary, backward of point Thomson at this stage was batting with far more confidence and middling the ball hearteningly. Together, they scored 53 in 48 minutes, Thomson playing some shortpitched ones from Connolly well. Connolly knocked Taylor’s wickets over with a noball and Taylor, never one to miss the mood of the moment, feigned to walk back to the pavilion. While thus engaged, he might very well have been run out. Two balls later, he was caught behind; his 25 was his smallest score against the Australians. Moderate Progress Thomson, now at the top of his bent, produced drives and square cuts of delightful quality and when the new ball was nine overs old, 49 had been taken from it. In the soft afternoon sunlight, Motz hit Connolly straight for 4, Thomson cover drove Davies powerfully for another boundary, and only two minutes remained when he followed an away-swinger to give Davies his third catch.

Six hours for 297 does not seem rapid scoring, but the Australian bowling rate was moderate —16, 17, then 18 overs to the hour in the three periods of play. There was some superb fielding from Booth and Sheahan, in particular, but Jarvis was missed in the slips off Connolly when he was only 15, and there were other catching errors. Davies did a particularly good job in a spell of nearly two hours, for he was able to maintain pressure on the batsmen when they might have expected some relief. At one stage, he had 15 successive overs for 15 runs and two wickets.

Freeman was too short too often, but Frost threatened New Zealand severely in the morning, with his lively pace and movement. Connolly bowled with great heart again, and was distinctly unlucky, Favell’s handling of Connolly was not easy to understand. Although a bowler of outstanding stamina, Connolly had only five overs as first change, one before lunch, then four in his first spell after the interval. He came on again at 3.15 p.m and had Thomson groping and very vulnerable. But Connolly was off after three overs, and was not used again until Frost and Freeman had had the new ball, Connolly beginning his last spell half an hour before stumps.