‘Unmerciful’ attitude needed to dispose of Wright and Turner

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 46

‘Unmerciful’ attitude needed to dispose of Wright and Turner

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney Australia’s pacemen had to go after John Wright and Glenn Turner “unmercifully,” a former Australia test captain, lan Chappell, wrote yesterday. “If Lawson and company can achieve those early breakthroughs, that will make the job of containing the rest, in particular big hitters’ Hadlee and Cairns, a lot easier,” he said in his column in the “Sydney Sun.”

"Both Wright and Turner have the ability to keep the run rate at a good level from the early stages of. the innings and if they are allowed to do this. New Zealand's greater batting depth will make them a difficult proposition, whether setting a target or chasing runs.

"In the qualifying matches New Zealand have remained a lot steadier in the crises than Australia and this advantage could also be lessened if Hughes wins the toss and bats first." said Chappell. He wrote that in Sydney for the first final today of the World Series Cup competition. a day/night match, Kim Hughes, if he won the toss, should bat first to give his pace attack the advantage of bowling under lights. Hughes indicated that his side will be unchanged from that which beat New Zealand by 27 runs in Perth saying: “It looks as if we might at last have hit on the right mixture.

"We introduced a completely new opening partnership in Perth with Graeme Wood and young Steve Smith and it turned out to be a real success." he said.

"They were the best runners between wickets that we've had all series. That's been one of our faults that we haven't really had any racehorses in our side when it comes to running between the stumps. “We were encouraged generally by our performance on Sunday. We have a healthy respect for the New Zealanders as a very tough and competitive unit but we began to find our own combination the other day and we should go very close," Hughes said. In separate statements. Hughes and Geoff Howarth played down clashes between the sides and attributed animosity between players to the closeness of the series and the pressure under which one day matches are played.

Turner remained the centre of attention and he was at the hub of the respective statements yesterday. However the rivalry, which came to a head when Hughes attacked Turner at a press conference on Friday, appeared to have eased. “I regret nothing I said the other day,” Hughes said yesterday. “I stand by most of my comments about Turner and I think they are still shared

by my teammates. 1 believe, though, that it was the way the things I said were presented by the media which made things seem worse than they were. “The point I was trying to make was that the Australian players and myself personally cannot understand why a man of Turner's ability refuses to play for his country in a test match," Hughes said. “I don’t doubt his ability. I think he’s a great player, so why won't he put his reputation on the line in a test match, that’s the real test of a batsman’s ability.

“Test cricket will always be the undisputed pinnacle of cricket. It’s what every player strives for. This one day stuff is alright, but if you really want to prove yourself then the test arena is the

place to do it

“I’m sure Turner not playing for New Zealand upset the New Zealand players — it certainly upsets us that a guy refuses to play for his country. That's probably part of the reason that some of our guys have given him a ‘bit' in a couple of matches recently,” Hughes continued.

“I admit that a lot of sledging (abusing opposition players) has gone on recently but that's quite normal and people should realise the reasons for it."

"The Aussies have clearly got it in for Turner." Howarth said. “I don’t know why. It's something personal between Glenn and the Australian players. “I can't really discuss the situation from my own personal experience, though.

There's no 'aggro' on my part and I haven’t had any aimed at me so far in the series,” Howarth said.

"I realise it goes on and that it’s been pretty heavy at times.

“This competition is hard and when it’s got to these lengths the umpires should step in and try and end it." he said. The 12-man teams are:

New Zealand: John Wright, Bruce Edgar, Glenn Turner, Geoff Howarth, John Morrison. Jeremy Coney, Warren Lees, Richard Hadlee, Lance Cairns. Martin Snedden, Ewen Chatfield. Gary Troup. Australia: Graeme Wood, Steve Smith, Kim Hughes, David Hookes, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Rodney Marsh, Geoff Lawson, Jeff Thomson, Rodney Hogg, Dennis Lillee, Tom Hogan.