England preserves winning margin

Press, 3 September 1981, Page 28

England preserves winning margin

NZPA London England held out for a draw in the sixth test at The Oval yesterday and preserved its 3-1 Ashes-winning margin. Two farewell innings of defiance from Mike Brearley (51) and the admirable Alan Knott (70 not out) ensured England against defeat despite a magnificent late rally from Dennis Lillee. In what must surely be his last appearance in England, Lillee lifted his match tally to 11 wickets and his series total to 39 in a stirring effort to bring about England’s downfall one last time. Although it was all in vain, it will stand as one of the finest efforts of a great career, and more than once he had England fearing for its life yesterday. In the end, England got through to stumps at 261 for seven. Knott and John Emburey saw out the last tense 13 overs, including the final 10-over assault with the new ball. Both Brearley and Knott have made themselves unavailable ..for England’s tour of India in the off-season, and in all probability have played their last Tests. Brearley completed the series as the mastermind behind one of the most comprehensive turnabouts the game has known. He was invited to captain the side after the second test, when England was one down and looked a beaten team, under his guidance they won the next three tests, all amid scenes of high drama which will ensure that this rubber will' go down as one of the finest ever contested.

As icing on the cake, he managed his highest score of the series on the final but at

the end of a career of 39 tests his ambition to score a century remained unfulfilled. The Australian captain, Kim Hughes, spoke of his disappointment after the final ball had been delivered. “It was a frustrating end to a frustrating series.” he said. “When we had them six down we thought we had a good chance, but we had only two bowlers who looked like taking wickets — Aiderman and Lillee — and you couldn’t expect them to keep going all the time. “And then there was Alan Knott who batted so well. We just couldn’t make it.” “It was never really on,” Brearley said. “But I did toy with the idea of chasing it in view of the fact that the series had already been decided. “If we’d been set say 340 in six and a half hours we would have given it a go, but after lunch we needed 300 in two sessions, and that’s not on in a test match.” AUSTRALIA First innings 352 Second innings 344/9 dec. ENGLAND First innings 314 Second innings G. Boycott lbw Lillee .... 0 W. Larkins e Aiderman b Lillee ... 24 C. Tavare c Kent b Whitney. 8 M. Gatting c Kent b Lillee 56 P. Parker c Kent b Aiderman 13 M. Brearley e Marsh b Lillee 51 I. Botham lbw Aiderman . . 16 A. Knott not out 70 J. Emburey not out 5 Extras (62, lbs, w2, nb9). 18 Total for seven wickets 261 Fall: 0, 18, 88, 101, 127, 144, 237. BOWLING

OMR W D. Lillee 30 10 70 4 T. Aiderman 19 6 60 2 M. Whitney 11 4 46 1 R. Bright 27 12 50 0 G. Yallop 8 2 17 0