PITCH AND PACE ON CONGDON’S MIND N.Z. problems will start on winning test toss

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33140, 2 February 1973, Page 18

PITCH AND PACE ON CONGDON’S MIND N.Z. problems will start on winning test toss

(From

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

WELLINGTON. B. E. Congdon, who has not lost a match since he assumed the captaincy of New Zealand, will be in a cleft stick if he wins the toss from Intikhab Alam before the first test starts at the Basin Reserve today.

Being hung, drawn and quartered by the public is the fate of a losing captain; being dragged two ways is only slightly less comfortable. And Congdon will be in two minds if he has to make a choice this morning.

The pitch looks as if it will play easily, but there is enough grass, and dampness at one end, to suggest that the quick bowlers may be dominant for a while. So he might be inclined to put Pakistan in if he wins the toss. On the other hand, this Pakistan team has shown a strange ineptitude in a fourth innings, and with two good spin bowlers available to him, Congdon might well wish for New Zealand to be bowling last. . Wealth of spin Pakistan has already declared its hand. It has included only two pace bowlers in its team, but it has four spinners. New Zealand is more likely to opt for three pace bowlers, with H. J. Howarth and Congdon, himself, in support. If all five specialist bowlers in the 12 are in the final team, it would give New Zealand only five batsmen, plus K. J. Wadsworth and a useful tail, and five does not seem to be enough. New Zealand has a good chance of winning this match, and the series. It has experienced batsmen, a good fielding side, and a bowling combination which would hold a particularly strong hand should there be some life in the pitch for a while. No great depth Pakistan has some magnificent batsmen, but the best of them—Sadiq, Zaheer, Khan, Asif Iqbal, and Raja—are all vulnerable. They all attack, they all give the bowlers encouragement. They might take charge,' but the loss of wickets early might expose a lack of real depth in the batting. The bowling is more than adequate. Should there be some assistance for the seam bowlers, Safraz and Saleem

are capable of making the most of it. And the spin section of Intikhab, Pervez, Raja and Khan is exciting and talented. And Asif Iqbal, if not the lively bowler of a few years ago, can give adequate support with medium pace. Runs to be taken Pervez, evidently, looms large in Pakistan thinking. He has been extremely successful in tests against New Zealand—47 wickets in nine games, at very modest cost—but on tour this time he seems to have lost the fine edge of his left-arm spin bowling. He has been worked hard, no doubt in an effort to bring him back to top form. He has played in every match, and notwithstanding a return of four for 12 in Central Districts’ second innings, he has only nine wickets, at an average cost of almost 48, and he has cost more than three runs an over.

Here may lie to key to New Zealand’s prospects.

Pakistan’s strength is probably going to be in its spinners, but they do give away runs while sapping the batting defences. Intikhab’s cost has been almost four an over and Raja yielded 3| an over so far. New Zealand should be able to extract runs from a the slow bowlers at a reasonable rate. Pakistan might also suffer from below-qual-ity out-fielding, although in Bari it has a top-class wicketkeeper. Prolific scorers Its batting strength, for all its vulnerability, wins deep respect. Sadiq is averaging almost 50, Zaheer over 53, Khan over 67—in a most majestic style—Asif Iqbal about 38, Raja, with the help of some not outs, about 62. It is as well for New Zealand that the all-rounder, Mushtaq, cannot play because of a sprained ankle. New Zealand is likely to drop D. R. O’Sullivan from its 12, unless it is thought that the usefulness of spinners late in the game will outweigh the value of pace early. New Zealand has a good team, although there must be some slight doubts about the match fitness of B. R. Taylor and M. G. Burgess. Taylor said yesterday that he would be able to bowl at full pace—but he is likely to have that reduced by the strong winds at present blowing in Wellington. It was half a gale yesterday, and wind is bound to come into calculations. Sights on England But all in all, it seems likely to be a highly interesting game between evenlymatched teams, with the interpretation of pitch behaviour one of the vital clues to the puzzle. For some of the New Zealanders, this is more than a test match. Three of them are new caps, and have their sights set on the English tour. J. M. Parker will open the

innings—which means that T. W. Jarvis will probably bat at six—O’Sullivan, if given a chance, could confirm his claims, and R. J. Hadlee, at his best, might hurry things along quite dramatically. The teams are: New Zealand.—Congdon, G. M. Turner, Parker, B. F. Hastings, Burgess. Jarvis. Wadsworth, R. O. Colllnge, Taylor. O’Sullivan, Howarth, Hadlee (one to be omitted). Pakistan,—lntikhab, Talat, Sadiq, Zaheer, Khan, Asif Iqbal, Raja, Bari, Saleem, Sarfraz, Pervez. Masood Is twelfth man.