Australians worried

Press, 25 May 1977, Page 42

Australians worried

NZPA Bristol When the smiles for winning the first match of the tour had faded yesterday, two of the Australian cricket selectors wore worried looks. The reasons were personal. Rod Marsh and Doug Walters, who with the captain, Greg Chappell, have three weeks to decide Australia’s test line-up, have good reason to be down-cast about their own performances. As the

mainstays of the test middleorder, they have a big share of responsibility and unless they ran into form before the tour is very much older, Australia’s batting will look paperthin for the Jubilee Test at Lords on June 16. Both were out in the second innings against Gloucestershire yesterday attempting big hits. Marsh opened the tour with a cavalier 23 at Canterbury, and since then he has made scores of 3,0, 0, and 9. Walters, 31, continues to defy analysis. He is one of the most successful test batsmen of modem times, but he cannot be consistent in England. Unlike Marsh, he has

been getting a solid start to his innings, then throwing his wicket away when his sights should be on a hundred. Walters has been out in the twenties three times and thirties twice in six completed innings. His only real failure was six in the second innings against Glamorgan. If he has misgivings about the Australian batting, Chappell must be pleased with his own form. Yesterday’s 102 was a flawless display of batting skills at a time when everyone else was struggling on a treacherous wicket.

Chappell is already a mile ahead in the tour run-getting stakes. He has 299 on the board in four completed innings for an average of just under 75. Scores. — Australia 154 and 251 (Chappell 102; Graveny 5/70, Shackleton 2/40) beat Gloucestershire 63 and 169 (Pascoe 4/36, Bright 4/63).