Turner, Wright to join N.Z. side

Press, 8 June 1979, Page 20

Turner, Wright to join N.Z. side

NZPA Bristol In form opening batsmen Glenn Turner and John Wright are expected to join the New Zealand side for its final World Cup warm up match against Combined’ Universities at Oxford today.' Both were involved ini Benson and Hedges quarter-; finals yesterday and were expected to rejoin the New! Zealanders in Oxford in the) morning.

Manager, Graham Dowling said there was also a possibility that vice-captain Geoff Howarth would join the team from Surrey, giving the New Zealanders their full line up for the first time.

Turner and Wright played in the practice matches last week against Kent and Middlesex, but then went back to their counties where Wright immediately batted again back into form with consecutive innings of 115 and 61.

New Zealand’s fourth professional, Richard Hadlee, joined the team from Not-

Itinghamshire on Wednesday! evening and put power into! the bowling yesterday: against Gloucestershire, tak-j ing three for 16. But it was one of the New) Zealanders filling in the) igaps, Auckland opener Peter) I Webb, who set New Zealand) ion the road for its first win. I Webb was seconded from ; league cricket in Leeds to I play for his country while , i the county players were away. He was solely respon-) sible for breaking the only |l Gloucestershire partnership) set to threaten New Zealand) and he then gave the side a'i comfortable start with 46,). before holing out to mid-on i off the tight and economical i left arm of David Graveney. • Scooping the ball lefthanded to break the stumps, i Webb ran out Martin Sto- < void (55) after he and his brother Andy (61) had made i a 95 run partnership to take > the county from the brink of : despair at 37 for four to 132 j< for five.

Webb opened the innings) with Bruce Edgar and dominated proceedings for the!

| first hour, taking the run Irate up to four an over, well ahead of what was required. But the scoring slowed : right down when he was out | for 46 and New Zealand | were 73. Edgar, struggling to find form, was out with no addition. John Wilstshire, the Auckland captain, also seconded until the World Cup starts, found Graveney diffi-* cult to play before he re« tired hurt after being hit on 'the head by a rising ball Ifrom David Partridge. I Five maidens were bowled lin a row before Jeremy ) Coney and captain Mark Burgess got the scoring res* tarted. But the run rate hao dropped alarmingly and what should have been an easy win for New Zealand was beginning to look diffi* cult. There were plenty oi overs in hand and only two runs were needed off every six balls when Hadlee and ) Cairns got together at tha '■ wicket, and Cairns, normally

all gusto and slog, was subdued as he and Hadlee eased New Zealand to the win.