N.Z. facing formidable spin attack in test

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32861, 9 March 1972, Page 26

N.Z. facing formidable spin attack in test

(From

D. J. CAMERON,

N.Z.P.A. special correspondent)

PORT OF SPAIN.

The full weight of the West Indies bowling attack will come down upon the New Zealand cricketers in the second test, starting tomorrow, and the tourists will have to draw deep on their resources if they are to survive.

New Zealand drew the first test and the subsequent games, against the Leewards and Trinidad, because those matches were played on pitches on which no well-organised side should lose.

Queen’s Park Oval, on the other hand, has the recent reputation of favouring spinners, sometimes as early as the second day, and more during the latter half of a five-day match. There are tales of the pitch breaking up on the last two days, but one suspects that ' the fate of the test will have been decided in the first half, rather than the second, of the test New Zealand will enter the test with a fighting chance, and the odds will be immeasurably better should it win the toss and bat first. Set huge tasks In the major matches so far. New Zealand has had to j bat second facing totals of 451, 508 for four and 474 for nine, and the psychological barriers imposed by these formidable scores have affected the New Zealanders’ play in the rest of these matches. Ideally, New Zealand should bat first in this coming crucial test, aim for 350plus, and thus give their bowlers the confidence they have not had so far on this tour. Scoring 350-plus is more easily said than done, for by now the West Indians know the strengths and weaknesses of the New Zealand batting and have picked

their second test team accordingly. The New Zealand strength has been individual rather rather than collective. A double century for G. M. Turner, a century for M. G. Burgess, a hundred for B. E. Congdon. But so far, apart from the artificial match against the President’s XL the New Zealand batting has not been firing on all cylinders at the one time. The opening partnerships have generally been shortlived and the middle-order batting has not been substantial enough to recover this lost ground. Batting weaknesses Also, the New Zealand batting has been fragile against good quality spin bowling, and the collapses, either mini or major, have been one of the most serious weaknesses of the New Zealand batting structure. The West Indies are aware of this and have picked a bowling attack well equipped to probe and exploit these weaknesses. It seems likely that G. Shillingford will be omitted from the West Indies 12, leaving V. Holder and G. S. Sobers to use the new ball for as long as necessary before Sobers marshalls his army of spinners. Holder promises more problems that the first test new-ball bowlers, U. Dowe and Shillingford. They were

enthusiastic but offered one or two wild balls in each over. Holder, who has learned his art in the hard world of English county cricket, promises to be more accurate, and he will enter the test flushed with 11 wickets for Barbados in his last macth. Many dimensions Then will come the West Indies spin—L. R. Gibbs and M. Foster, with orthodox offspin, D. Holford, with rightarm wrist spin, and Sobers and Inshan Ali, with their left-arm wrist spin. Any one of these five would be formidable on his own. Together they present an attacking force of so many dimensions that the New Zealand batsmen will be under heavy and constant pressure. And if the pitch offers them turn and bite, the pressure may be too much for the New Zealanders. The New Zealand bowlers, especially H. J. Howarth and J. C. Alabaster, will relish the prospect of some help from the pitch, even though a twoman spin attack gives the impression of a New Zealand frigate engaging a West Indies battleship. So far, on good batting pitches, L. Rowe has extracted three centuries from the New Zealanders, while C. Davis, R. Fredericks, and M. C. Carew have taken single centuries.

Foster scored two Shell Shield hundreds in the last week, while Sobers has not yet been required to show his

batting genius for more than a few minutes. Obviously, the West Indies batsmen do not have nightmares about the New Zealand bowling when the pitches are plumb. Yet there are faults in the West Indians* techniques. They tend to play away from their pads, knowing that the ball will not deviate either in line or bounce. Thus, the New Zealand bowlers, especially R. S. Cunis, with his movement off the pitch, and Howarth and Alabaster, with their spin, might take heart that the Sueen’s Park pitch will give lem a slightly better share of the odds. But the critical point of the test will be the toss and the ability of the New Zealand batsmen to take full advantage of the winning of it Their chance will be slim indeed if they are required to bat second and fourth against the West Indian spinners.