Bowler’s amazing debut

Press, 23 June 1981, Page 30

Bowler’s amazing debut

NZPA Nottingham The Australian cricketer, Terry Aiderman, does not go in much for heroics. Tall, good-natured and always ready with a shy smile, he finds it hard to see what all the fuss is about. A few hours' after Australia's first test victory at Nottingham yesterday 'by four wickets, Aiderman was standing on the edge of the team celebrations, sipping quietly at a drink and chatting to Rod Marsh. Nine wickets in his first test match meant less to him than the shared pleasure of having beaten England and going one up in the series. Aiderman was most people’s choice as the “man of the match,” including the England captain, lan Botham, but he was not about to. argue that Dennis Lillee should not have got it. "Just having him there made my job a lot easier,” he said. "Dennis is such a great bowler that he . gets wickets at both ends. He has always helped me in the state games, and it was the same here. "He kept encouraging me. Rod Marsh helped a lot, too. Whenever I dropped one a bit short he would be there saying: ‘Come on, keep it up to them. You know where to bowl it’.” Even if he does nothing else on tour (unlikely though that it is), Aiderman has been a coup for the Australian selectors.

He did not think w’hen he arrived in England that he would make the first test team. “I knew 1 ha’d to work hard, and I was lucky to get a break in the second Prudential match.

"Then I played in the next one and bowled alright, so I thought I had a chance.”

Aiderman, a 25-year-old Perth schoolteacher, was the ideal bowler to exploit the Trent Bridge conditions. His economical approach and strong action were tailormade for the circumstances. He got the ball to swing away tantalisingly late, and through long spells hit the seam more consistently than any other bowler in the match. He continued a remarkable run of success for West Australian medium pacers making their test debuts in England. Four years ago Mick Malone bowled virtually unchanged throughout the first day of the Oval test and took five for 63. It was his first, and so far only test. In 1972, Bob Massie made the most famous of all bowlers’ test debuts, taking 16 wickets for 137 at Lords. Hopefully Aiderman will not disappear as quickly as his predecessors. “I don’t think in our wildest imaginations we had thought that he would bowl as well as he did here,” the captain, Kim Hughes, said.

"When we first came Terry was looked on mainly as a stock bowler, but now he has become s strike bowler of the highest order, particularly at front-line batsmen.

"He is bowling a yard or two faster than he ever has for West Australia, but there is no substitute for a bowler in England who aims at off stump and runs it away to the slips.”

Aiderman will never forget his first test wicket — Geoff Boycott, beaten by late movement in the first innings and edging to Allan Border at second slip: He repeated the v treatment for Boycott on Saturday. This time the edge was a little

finer and Marsh was there to pouch it. “I used to sit and watch players like Boycott on TV in Australia playing on these grounds,” Aiderman said. “Now to come over here to bowl at them is the biggest thrill of my life. As for getting them out . . . well.” "But I know there is a long way to go and I know I am not going to get too many more tracks like this to bowl on.” Botham, who was out to Aiderman in the first innings, said he had bowled just about perfectly for the conditions. “But it will be interesting to see .what he does when he bowls on a better wicket.” Botham has some deep thinking to do in the next few days. He was appointed captain for the second test only, so in spite of his improved performance with the bat in top scoring with 33 on the last day, he has been given only a temporary reprieve.

It is an unusual move by the selectors, and not one likely to instil the incumbent with any great confidence. The inference is that England’s selectors do not know what to do. There is no obvious successor, although there is a growing school of thought that Mike Brearley should be brought back as caretaker for the remainder of this series.

Brearley said in a recent television interview that he was not seeking the job, but gave the impression that he would accept it if it were offered. He has already told the selectors that he is not available for the tour to India at this stage.

The selectors must look to the future, but there comes a time«when consideration as

for the present should override it. The Australian Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) -yesterday sent his: congratulations to the men responsible for Australia’s sporting “double header” in cricket and golf. To the Australian cricketers who defeated England by four wickets in the first' test at Trent' Bridge, his message said: “There is something particularly special about winning a test match against England.” The scoreboard;

, ENGLAND First innings, 185. Second innings (overnight 6/94) , I. Botham c'Border b Lillee. 33 P. Downton lbw b Aiderman 3 G. Dilley, c Marsh b Alderman 13 R. Willis e Chappell b Lillee. 1 M. Hendrick not out ... . . (I Extras (81b, Inb). .... 9 Total ... . / . . ... . ... 125 Fall: .12, 12, 13, 39, 61,’ 94, 109, 113, 125. , • . 1 Bowling . O M R W D. Lillee • 16.L 2 46 5 T. Aiderman -19 3 62 a. R.-Hogg : 3 .1 8 o ? AUSTRALIA First innings .179 . Second innings J.Dvson c Downton b Dillev 38 G. Wood c Woolmer b Willis. 8 G. Yallop c Gatting b Bolham 6 K. Hughes lbw b Dilley. . . 22 T. Chappell not out 20 A. Border b Dillev 20 R. Marsh lbw b Dilley ... 0 G. Lawson not out 5 Extras (Iw, 61b, 6nb). . 13 Total (for 6 wkts). . . . 132 Fall: 20, 40, 77, 80, 122, 132. O M R W G. Dilley 11.1 2 24 4 R. Willis 13 2 28 1 M. Hendrick 20 7 33 0 I. Botham 10 1 34 1