N.Z. hoping for good last game before second test

Press, 5 August 1978, Page 52

N.Z. hoping for good last game before second test

From R.T.Brittenden on tour for the N.Z.PA.

New Zealand will be hop’ ! ing for a satisfactory per- ■ formance against Lancashire r in the match to start at Old i Trafford today. This will be the last ■ fixture before the second , test at Trent Bridge, Not- ■ tingham, and in normal cir- ■ cumstances the tourists would have put their test : team into the field. There are likely to be at least two of the team, however, who will not play at Manchester. Bevan Congdon is due for a match off and Richard Hadlee is certain to be rested. Hadlee’s fitness for the second test is very much in doubt. He bowled far below his best level at the Oval ’ and it may be decided that a’ longer rest might bring him ’ back fresh and fit for the! final test at Lords. It seems likely that Bruce! Edgar will be asked to keep! wicket in the Lancashire; match.

On a slow pitch at Torquay he acquitted himself well but if the selectors are seriously considering him as wicket-keeper for the test they would probably want to see him with the gloves on for a longer period and in conditions nearer that of a test match.

The match will be important for John Parker, too. He made some runs at Torquay

Hbut his fitness as a fieldsman ■ is still in doubt. ■ ■ The game will give Rich- i ■ ard Collinge a chance, to show that he is getting the edge back on his! I bowling. He will have to | ■ sharpen his attack to win back his test place, which may be in doubt even if Hadlee does not play. Am .'.ler for whom the i match is of particular importance is Robert Anderson, I who will want to demon- <

istrate that his two failures jin the first test should be • forgiven. He batted with i considerable decorum at Torquay. ’ Lancashire is in the lower half of the county championship table but it is an interesting side. In it is Colin Croft, a tall, West Indianborn fast bowler who took 33 wickets for the West Indies against Pakistan in 1976-77 to equal the West Indies’ record for a series. The gangling West Indian, Clive Lloyd, will be a dangerous opponent and so will his namesake, the former test player, David Lloyd.

Lancashire will be led by Frank Hayes, hailed a few seasons ago as a player with a great test future. Andrew Kennedy, a lefthand batsman who won the “best young cricketer of the year” award in 1975, is a sound opener who yesterday made a century against Middlesex in a Gillete Cup quarter-final. At Torquay, Minor Counties achieved a notable double, adding the scalp of

New Zealand to its victory i over Australia last year. i Set a target of 211 in 160 min it never seemed to be quite on terms with the ■ task but New Zealand kept feeding runs in search of • wickets and then Michael Akin and Michael Collyer, in ■ a half-hour'of violence, took : 60 from the slow bowlers. MINOR COUNTIES First innings (overnight 45/1) M. D. Norton not out . . 281 S. R. Atkinson c Edgar b Bracewell .. 1 P. N. Gill std Edgar b Howarth 49 Extras (lb 4 .. 4 Total for 2 deci. .. 82

fl Fall: 3. 28. , I Bowling: Bracewell 5,3, 19. 1; ‘ CoHinge 10, 2, 21. 0; Thomson r ’B, 1. 19, 0; Mclntyre 6, 3. 80: ’Howarth 2,3, 11, 1. Did not bat: D. Bailey, M. Duna stan, P. J. Kippax. N. T. O’Brien, > M. J. Ikin, ,F. E. Collyer. B. G. ' Collins. J. S. Wilkinson. , Second innings M. D. Nurton c Bracewell b c Congdon . 31 i S. R. Atkinson c Howarth b Collinge 1 P. N. Gill c Howarth b Collinge .. 8 ; D. Bailey c Bracewell b Mc- ' Intyre 38 P. J. Kippax c Congdon b Howarth .. 25 M. S. Dunstan c and b Congdon .. 10 N. T. O’Brien b Mclntyre . . 7 M. J. Ikin not out . .. 39 F. E. Collyer not out .. 35 Extras (b 6 lb!3, nbl) .. 20 Total for 7 wickets 214 Fall: 4. 26, 85, 89, 105, 122, 145. Bowling: Bracewell 4,2, 3,0; Collinge 8. 2, 24. 2; Congdon 12, 3, 35, 2; Boock 11, 2, 34, 0; McIntyre 12.4, 1, 59. 2; Howarth 5,0, 39, 1. NEW ZEALAND First innings 117/3 dee. Second innings R. W. Anderson c Collyer b Ikin 35 G. N. Edwards lbw Ikin .. 46 J. M. Parker c Gill b Ikin .. 31 ' B. E. Congdon not out .. 42 ’ B. A. Edgar not out .. 14 t Extras (b2, lb 4. wl) .. 7 ( Total for 3 wkts dec. 175 Fall: 75, 86, 131. ! Bowling: Wilkinson 8,2, 28, 0; 1 Collins 7,2, 31, 0; O’Brien 4,0, < 24, 0; Ikin 24. 6. 46, 3; Kippax i 20, 7, 89, 0.