Brown masters Australian spinners

Press, 9 March 1982, Page 36

Brown masters Australian spinners

By JOHN COFFEY Vaughan Brown went along to Lancaster Park on Saturday morning expecting to be the twelfth man for the President’s XI against the Australian cricket team. But when Brown walked from the oval at the end of the drawn match late yesterday afternoon his already very promising career had taken on new dimensions. He had scored a quite magnificent unbeaten 121 to add to his impressive half-century of the first innings, and had displayed a remarkable mastery of good-quality spin bowling. The achievement of this personable young man was all the more auspicious because of his lack of recent serious match practice. Only

the previous week-end he had scored a “pair” in a club game for Old Collegians against St Albans, and he missed most of the Shell Series because of a broken finger. Brown's batting background was not completely blank, however. He recently took part in an inter-airlines tournament in Sydney, and was dismissed only once in three innings for an aggregate of about 180 runs. But it was still a surprise to Brown to learn that his club-mate, Paul McEwan, should become something of a pioneer in an era of motorised trolleys that has made redundant the phrase, “carrying the drinks.” “I had not had a lot of good cricket lately and came

prepared to be twelfth man. After all, I had not played many first-clss matches, and Paul had scored runs for Cantebury,” Brown said. There was no sign of bewilderment when Brown replaced his captain, John Morrison, at the crease just after lunch yesterday. Nor was there any evidence of pressure affecting his approach as his side, four wickets down, still trailed Australia by 12 runs with almost four hours remaining. Brown, 22-years-old, a former national secondary schools representative and now in his third first-class summer, was quickly into his groove. The Australian leftarm spinner, Ray Bright, was the first to suffer, and it was not long before the test

man, Bruce Yardley, was being treated with similar disdain.

Driving was Brown’s strong point, deft foot-work and clean stroke-play providing him with the confidence to hit over the reach of the fieldsmen. It was pulsating stuff, an object lesson to the young and an entertainment to others, and the Australians, too, were generous in their acknowledgement of Brown’s skills.

"Spin bowling (and, of course, Brown is no novice himself at turning the ball) is always enjoyable — it is more exciting for the public and yourself,” said Brown after his innings. “I enjoy hitting over the top. It can be one of the safest means of attack if done correctly."

Brown went to his second first-class century with a fitting stroke — a lofted ondrive from Yardley. That was the 169th delivery, that he faced, he bad batted 172 min and hit 13 fours. When Yardley returned for his next over Brown celebrated with two more boundaries and a swept six to the mid-wicket embankment. In all, Brown batted for 201 memorable minutes. Rarely did Brown falter. His only chance was firmly struck to Allan Border at short cover, when Brown was 64, and he had some anxious moments against Len Pascoe before tea. “In the first innings I could not work out the short ones from the pace bowlers, and the same was happening

again. I was just not seeing the ball in the air, and was moving my head. During the break John Bracewell mentioned Glenn Turner’s theory to keep one’s eyes level; it was better after that,” Brown said. Indeed, it must have been, for Brown was soon plundering Pascoe’s looser deliveries through mid-off and cover. The first of the telegrams arrived in the President’s XI dressing room only a few minutes after Brown emerged from the showers. No doubt there were many more for a youngster who, in his own words, relished “the challenge of playing Australia” and demonstrated his quality against “true professionals."