Criticism supported

Press, 12 February 1982, Page 20

Criticism supported

Support for Jack Harliwich’s criticisms of the performances of the New Zealand team during the recent World Cup women’s cricket tournament has been received from an unexpected source. Earlier this week Mr Harliwich, who is a co-selec-tor and coach of the Canterbury women's squad, condemned the selection methods of the New Zealand team and the batting and leadership tactics of the captain, Pat McKelvey (Wellington);

His views have now been backed by Paul Kearvell, an Englishman who has been a regular watcher of the sport since the first World Cup was held in his homeland in 1973. His interest in women’s cricket has taken him on tours of Australia and New Zealand, and he was in this country for the cup contest which ended with the final at Lancaster Park last Sunday. In a letter to Mr Harliwich on the eve of his departure from Christchurch, Mr Kearvell summed up the New Zealand effort as “badly led.

too many old players, slow in the field and pathetically slow opening batting." “I’ve no axe to grind, I only go on what I see. My experience is considerable — I saw the English trial games, the Australian championships and the World Cup. I also saw New Zealand play in 1973 in England and 1979 in Australia. “So maybe I'm in a unique position to judge the issue, and I think that you are dead right in what you say," Mr Kearvell wrote.