THIRD TEST TEAM Alabaster left out; Andrews dropped

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33443, 26 January 1974, Page 48

THIRD TEST TEAM Alabaster left out; Andrews dropped

'From PAUL CAVANAGH. N.Z.P.A. staff correspondent) ADELAIDE. New Zealand will tackle Australia in the vital third test in Adelaide today without the Otago offspinner. G. D. Alabaster, and the medium-pace bowler, B. Andrews.

The ,\cw Zealand selectors yesterdav chose to ignore forecasts that the Adelaide pitch would take spin on the final days, and will enter the rubberdeciding match with three mediumpace bowlers and the left-arm spinner. D. R. O’Sullivan.

In omitting Alabaster and in making M. .1. F. Shrimpton twelfth man. the New Zealanders are pinning their hopes on the batsmen’s being able to mount a big firstinnings tally.

Shrimpton becomes twelfth man after playing in both the first two tests, to make way for G. M. Turner, now recovered from the hand injury which kept him out of the second test.

Shrimpton would have given the New Zealanders another spin bowler with his leg-spinners, but the selectors have decided to stay with the three-prong mediumpace attack which has stood to the team well throughout the tour. Surprise omission

The selection of B. L. Cairns ahead of Andrews is less surprising than the omission of Alabaster. Cairns, in the latter part of the tour, has made the most of the opportunities given him. and he did well on the unresponsive Perth pitch to get thrne of the seven wickets which fell in the first innings.

Andrews, on the other hand, has not had a first-class I game since the second test, and he will return home with the unusual record of having played only four first-class matches on the tour, two of them test appearances. Andrews is a shade unlucky not to have been given another chance after the second test, for he played a leading role in New Zealand’s domination of that match when he bowled A. P. Sheahan and G. S. Chappell, the latter without scoring, in his third over of the first innings to start the Australian batting decline. Andrews probably lost his third test chance with a bad net in Adelaide yesterdav afternoon. With the team skipper. B. E. Congdon, bowling in the same net, Andrews was unable to maintain a consistently good line, or to make the ball move in sharply to the right-handers, which is his strong point. Cairns, bowling in the adjacent net. was maintaining his new-found form, and looked to be bowling sharper than at any previous stage of the tour. Cairns will make his test

’debut for New Zealand in 'only his second season of I first-class cricket. The last 'time the 24-year-old. from Spring Creek, in Marlborough, appeared at the Adelaide oval was in the New Zealanders’ state match against South Australia when he took five wickets for 55 runs in the first innings—the only occasion of the tour that a New Zealand bowler has taken more than four wickets in an innings. Emphasis on runs

The emphasis for New Zealand in this test, which it must win to square the rubber after the innings victory by Australia in the first test and Australia’s lucky draw in Sydney, will be on scoring runs. While there might be doubt about the ability of the New Zealand bowlers to dismiss Australia twice, there is a much more confident look about the batting. It only needs Congdon to continue on from the promising start he has been making in recent innings for the New Zealanders to be capable of a first innings score of something like 400.

There are three changes in the Australian team. The South Australian opener, A. Woodcock takes over from Sheahan, who had been dropped after declaring himself unavailable for next month’s tour of New Zealand, and the medium-pace bowlers, A. Hurst and G. Dymock come in for A. R. Dell and |M. H. N. Walker, both of whom ate nursing injuries. The medium-pace bowler, G. J. Gilmour, who has not fully recovered from a heel injury, is expected to be named Australia's twelfth man.

Umpires for the match will ihe Messrs P. Enright, of 1 Brisbane and J. Collins of (Melbourne. Times of play j Times of play for the fiveday match (New Zealand (time) are: 12.30 p.m. to 2.30 Ip.rn., 3.10 p.m. to 5.10 p.m., |and 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. The rest day will be on Tuesday. 1 The teams are:

New Zealand: B. E. Congdon (captain), G. M. Turner (vice-captain), J. M. Parker, B. L. Cairns, D. R. O’Sullivan, K. J. Wadsworth, R. J. Hadlee, D. R. Hadlee. J. F. M.

Morrison. B. F. Hastings, J. V. Coney, M. J. F. Shrimpton (twelfth man). Australia: I. M. Chappell (captain). K. R. Stackpole (vice-captain), A. Woodcock, G. F. Chappell. K. D. Walters, I. Davis, G. W. Marsh, K. J. O’Keefe. A. Hurst, G. Dymock, A. A. Mallett, and G. J. Gilmour.