N.Z. cricket team flies to Australia

Press, 22 October 1980, Page 42

N.Z. cricket team flies to Australia

By

R. T. BRITTENDEN

The New Zealand cricketers flew to Australia yesterday — 11 from Christchurch, five from Auckland — to prepare for perhaps the most difficult assignment any New Zealand side has undertaken. It has a schedule of 26 matches and that will become 31 if the New Zealanders reach the final of the triangular limited-over competition with Australia and India. It will have to contend with pitches which vary considerably from those at home, with a tight schedule of matches, long hours of flying, the novelty of daynight cricket, wearing a uniform of beige and black, and h i g h-pressure publicity which is a residue of establishment cricket’s marriage with Packer’s World Series game. ' There will be other problems. India has a talented team and the tests with Australia, the side’s main mission, will be extremely demanding. Australia, after a couple of thin years while the Packer players were out of test cricket, showed in the centennial test that it will again be a tough and confident opponent •? ■*' , New Zealand may again play its familiar role of second favourite in- a test series, but it has no cause to fear it will not sustain its recently-won reputation for strong opposition. The players themselves do not inflate the success they enjoyed against the West Indies last summer, and they are fully aware of their own limitations. But if they sustain the fighting spirit bred in the tension of last season’s series, they will be hard' to beat. ?

There is a wealth of ex-

perience in the New Zealand team. Three of the 16 players have not had international experience; but in total, the team has made 213 test appearances, Mark Burgess having played 47. The batting, in quality and depth, gives grounds for optimism. John Wright. Bruce Edgar. Burgess, Howarth (notwithstanding his lean English season) and Jeremy. Coney are players of quality. So is John Parker, if he again blossoms under the Australian sun. Paul McEwan, relatively inexperienced, is an exciting prospect. The bowling may not be of similar quality. Richard Hadlee confirmed before his departure yesterday that he had been bowling from his full run, without any .hint of muscle injury, and if he is at his best, he will give New Zealand a really powerful weapon. Gary Troup made great strides last season, and his left-armer’s line will be useful. but the bowling as a unit will need the strongest possible support from the fieldsmen. Here again, the success of the tour will turn on team spirit —• the determination of the individual to support his colleagues to the utmost of his ability. Given really spirited fielding, the bowling arm will be strong.'

The New Zealanders will meet good pace bowling in Australia, and every state is well equipped with spin. There is much good batting to counter, yet there is no reason to suppose that the touring team will not sustain New Zealand’s slow but steady advance in international cricket. The New Zealanders may not win the test series, but if they are at their fighting best, it will be a worthwhile encounter.