Turner-Knowles cricket link?

Press, 2 June 1982, Page 46

Turner-Knowles cricket link?

By

RAY CAIRNS

The return of Glenn Turner to first-class cricket in New Zealand is imminent. But the champion batsman is paying close attention to the annual meeting of the Otago Cricket Association before making any commitment to domestic play in New Zealand. ißasking in the publicity and congratulations of his hundredth century in firstclass cricket, Turner said from England that he did not like to sound cold-blooded about his future cricket. “Far from it, but it is almost certain now that any of my future cricket will be in or for New Zealand, where and when I am wanted. But at my time of life, 1 want to enjoy it, so it does rely very heavily on what happens in Otago. There is a need for a change of direction, because club cricket has, if anything, gone back and it needs a change to have a chance to progress. That would rub off on the first-class scene as well. “If John Knowles becomes, say, the chairman, and with the fairly close contact I

have with him, I would feel an obligation, a need for me to play a part.” A former chairman of the Canterbury Cricket Association and now based in Dunedin, Mr Knowles said yesterday that “such expressions” (from Turner) “are very warming.” “I have been approached, and I am willing to lend my experience. But I am not willing to join the O.C.A. unless I have some strong influence in its destiny,” said Mr Knowles. While Mr Knowles was reluctant to talk in terms of the chairmanship, it is known there is a large groundswell of support for him in that position. He did acknowledge that “should that come out, I would not be happy with Otago cricket unless it included Glenn Turner in a fully participational role.” Turner, for his part, said: “I don’t like being involved in something that is not moderately well-organised.” On the subject of his historic 311 not out against Warwickshire on Sunday (New Zealand time), Turner explained his curiouslymixed form. After opening the season with 239 not out

against Oxford University — “that probably would have been a 300, too, but we declared" — he had six failures: 4 and 27 against Derbyshire, 4 and 0 against Gloucestershire, 6 and 4 in the Somerset match. The pitches at New Road have not been good, and in spite of Turner’s treble century and the 235 by Alvin Kallicharan for Warwickshire on the second day, he said this one was nd better. “It’s taking turn and the ball’s going through the top,” said Turner. The very last ball he faced, he said, “exploded” from the pitch, and finished flying over cover for a three. Quite aside from the pitches, and he considered the Worcester pitch could be the subject of an adverse report even before the game finishes, Turner had a simple reason for his run of failures. “I was determined the century should be a good one. I didn’t want to go back to the grafting of the late 19605. I didn’t want to regress — I think that’s the word. “So I still kept throwing caution to the winds, even if I was getting out, because you can only have so many

failures before you come off. Then in this one, we got away to a flier and even with the pitch like it was, they couldn’t afford guys round the bat.” Turner and his experienced opening partner, Alan Ormrod, had 291 for the first wicket, Ormrod 79 of them. Then there was an unbeaten 210 for the second with Dilip Patel (88 not out), with a total of 23 extras in the innings. Interestingly enough, Bob Willis, the Warwickshire and, new England Captain, with whom Turner has had many, usually successful, duels, bowled only 12 overs and took none for 76. Not a seeker of records — his prolific scoring has usually just brought them as a matter of course — Turner had one slight regret from the innings. “The most scored by a batsman in a day is, I believe, 345, and there were still 48 minutes left when we pulled in. I think that could have come, too, because they’d taken the second — or third, if you like — new ball and we’d taken about 30 from four overs with it.” The insatiable run-

gatherer found particular pleasure the next day, with the Kent team applauding him on to the’ field in a John Player Sunday League match, and, typically, showed no interest in further records. One little statistic sure to please cricketing buffs is that his hundredth century was also his hundredth not out innings; while they will also have a close eye on his next couple of centuries. After all, he has scored 69 centuries for Worcestershire (36 of them away from home, 31 on the county ground, two at Stourbridge), and Don Kenyon’s record is 70. And there is also the small matter of two centuries in one match: Turner has done this six times, Wally Hammond holds the record with seven. Two other New Zealand professionals in England had their own successes, though in opposition to each other. John Wright batted through Derbyshire’s first innings at Chesterfield, scoring 141 not out of the Derby total of 259. Among the bowlers he withstood was Richard Hadlee, who finished with five for 65.