Wright seeking N.Z. cap

Press, 19 November 1977, Page 12

Wright seeking N.Z. cap

The left-handed opening batsman, John Wright, who has made a fine impression in English county cricket with Derbyshire, should be arriving back in New Zealand within the next week. According to his father, Mr Geoff Wright, he has a coaching job in Gisborne and will be available for Northern Districts in the coming Shell inter-district series. His ultimate aim is, naturally, to gain selection for the test team to play England in February and March. Wright has been playing for D. H. Robins XI and decided to take two weeks holiday before returning to New Zealand. Wright will probably return to England at the end of March as the Derbyshire team is involved in three week's training and practice before the start of the county competition. Mr Wright said that his son had much admiration for the South African allrounder, Eddie Barlow, who has had much to do with the success of Derbyshire in the last two seasons. He said that Wright had found that the life of a county cricketer is not as glamourous as is often imagined. “The glamour might come but it wanes very quickly. It is basically very hard work,” said Mr Wright. In the last English season, Wright made 1200 runs at an average of about 32. He scored two centuries, one in his third game, and won his county cap in his seventh match. One of his centuries came in a Benson and Hedges one-day match and the other was 151 against Sussex.