Another collapse hands test series to England

Press, 16 August 1978, Page 42

Another collapse hands test series to England

Nottingham New Zealand collapsed dismally again at Trent Bridge yesterday, being dismissed for 190 to leave England the winner of the second test by an innings and 119 runs and the series by two matches to nil.

New Zealand’s overthrow was all the more disappointing to the tourists because Bruce Edgar, Geoff Howarth and John Parker had earlier in the day shown such resolution and skill that there seemed every prospect of the match going into the final day, one which promised New Zealand the reprieve of rain. But once Edgar was out, the slide to defeat was rapid. It was hastened by a light shower which gave the bowlers a little more life. But it was brought about in the main by very good and assertive bowling and fine catching. The left-arm spinner, Phil Edmonds, bowled particularly well, making the most of conditions helpful to him. And the final overthrow came mainly from lan Botham. who took three quick wickets and w'on the “man of the match” award. Nevertheless. the adjudicator, the former England player Reg Simpson, mentioned how; ( lose Richard had come to) winning it. The fates seemed to have' determined that New Zea-' land suffer the torments of the damned at Trent Bridge. During the game, whatever progress was made by the bowlers or the batsmen was cast away with suicidal errors — dropped catches off the bowlers, the running out of the batsmen at critical times. Add to this the frustrations of watching England’s batsmen play and miss so regularly in the first three

(hours of the match, the in- • justice of the two-ball period of play on Sunday (which ) exposed the pitch to rain), land the leg before appeals I the New Zealand bowlers I felt were unjustifiably rejected, and it is clear that | the tourists will not leave ! Nottingham with regret. ! Yesterday, there was a j determined effort, extending I over several hours, but again nothing seemed to go ; right. First, Robert Anderson ran himself out, a few minutes after the start of play. The task of the New Zealanders was to bat and bat and bat. for the full remaining 12 hours if possible. It was not a simple assignment, for if the pitch did nothing much for the faster bowlers, there was a I very encouraging turn for ' the spinners. A run out, i brought about by bad judgiment, was a dreadful waste, i Then came two stands which restored New Zealand’s self-respect. Bruce Edgar, dutiful in defence, beautiful in stroke production from time to time, had with him Geoff Howarth, very much the in-form batsman in the New Zealand camp.

They put on 50 in 54min, 58 in all, before Howarth was defeated by a leg cutter from Mike Hendrick. This brought John Parker in with Edgar. Parker’s pre-

vious test scores in England had been 2-6-3-8-4-0, which look like a telephone number, but there was no sign of nerves about him, and he settled in very quickly to play an extremely good innings. But he too went tragically. Edgar turned a ball to leg, Parker was off quickly, but was sent back and he was beaten home by Geoff Miller's throw. While Edgar was in with Howarth and Parker, the batsmen offered every evidence that they could carry on the fight for a long time.

But the loss of Parker, in particular, had a depressing effect. Edgar, in for four hours, batted with a certainty and touch which were remarkable for a 21-year-old in his second test match. It seemed he and Mark Burgess had got through safely to tea: most of the players were trooping off the field when they were recalled by the umpires. There had been a 15min break because of bad light and light rain, and the rules demand that after such a break there shall be 50min play before tea is taken. Five minutes later, Edgar was out, caught in Phil Edmonds’ leg trap.

After tea. the match slipped rapidly England’s way. Burgess tried to drive one from Edmonds which

turned really violently and Mike Brearley at slip held the catch after a juggle. Bevan Congdon, after threequarters of an hour’s ■ batting, got a very good one from lan Botham and he became the tenth New Zealander caught behind the wicket in this match. Lance Cairns was distinctly unlucky. He had one from Botham which kept wickedly low. and he was in front. England was on the rampage bv then, and Botham was warned for over-use of the bouncer. There was not much need for violence. Jock Edwards, after making some good strokes in a 45min innings, tried to turn Edmonds to midwicket and the sharp spin gave the bowler an easy return catch. There was little resistance after that. Richard Hadlee . slashed a couple of fours off Botham backward of point, and Stephen Boock, the most determined of tail-end batsmen, played one on from Edmonds. It was an elated England team which left the field at the end of the match. The players have particular cause for rejoicing. In their matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, they have already won more than $26,000 in prize money. In addition, each player earns $lBOO for each test in which he takes part. England won the first test at the Oval by seven wickets. The third and final test will be played at Lord’s on August 24-29. ENGLAND First innings . 429 NEW ZEALAND First innings 120

Second innings B. A. Edgar c Botham b Edmonds 60 R. W. Anderson run out 0 G. P. Howarth c Botham b Hendrick . 34 J. M. Parker run out . 38 M. G. Burgess c Brearley b Edmonds . 7 B. E. Congdon c Brearley b Botham . 4 G. N. Edwards c and b Edmonds 18 B. L. Cairns lbw b Botham 0 R. J. Hadlee c Taylor b Botham .11 S. L. Boock b Edmonds . 2 P. B. Bracewell not out . 0 Extras (Ib6, wl, nb9) 16 Total 190 Fall: 5, 63, 127, 148, 152. 164, 168 180, 190.

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

Bowling O. M. R. VA Botham , 24 7 59 3 Hendrick . 20 7 30 1 Willis 9 0 31 0 Edmonds 33.1 15 44 4 Miller 6 3 10 0