Praise heaped on Turner

Press, 14 June 1980, Page 60

Praise heaped on Turner

NZPA London New Zealand’s top batsman, Glenn Turner, had praise heaped upon him by Fleet Street newspapers yesterday for his slashing contribution to Worcestershire’s Benson and Hedges Cup quarterfinal win over Lancashire.

Turner blasted 122 runs off the Lancashire attack (from a county total of five for 314 in the 55-over match), the first 50 coming in seven overs and 29 breathless minutes. The whole innings, which included 14 fours and one six, was completed in little over two hours.

Keith Macklin in “The Times” wrote: “This was not the slightly manic Turner of the West Indies match. This was calculated, skilled ferocity, with the Lancashire bowlers treated with cavalier contempt” In the “Guardian,” Paul Fitzpatrick called the display a masterpiece. “He has performed so many remarkable feats in his career that one is apt to lose one’s sense of

wonder when he goes to the wicket,” Fitzpatrick said. “But even by his standards this was a stunning innings.” The “Daily Mirror,” said that Turner’s whirlwind batting had the spectators agasp and the “Daily Star” called it one of the most extraordinary oneday innings ever played. Mike Stevenson wrote in the “Daily Telegraph”: “Whether Turner was motivated by a desire to click straight into a fierce run rate in case of rain or the belief that the wicket might misbehave, the fact was that he opened like a man with a train to catch. “Hooking and cutting with arrogant ease, Turner also drove on the rise with a precision and power that regularly turned fielders into irrelevant spectators-.” Turner made the Lancashire attack look “like a nervous farmer confronted with an irate bull” Stevenson said.

Worcester now meets Essex in a cup semi-final at Worcester later this month.