Hadlee’s fitness test awaited for match today

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 1

Hadlee’s fitness test awaited for match today

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney

A fitness test late this morning will determine whether the New Zealand fast bowler. Richard Hadlee, will play in the first Benson and Hedges World Series Cup final at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.’

Hadlee’s fjtness outlook, which dimmed on Sunday when he strained a hamstring in a preliminary match against Australia, has continued to brighten and last evening he was said to have a 50-50 chance of taking the field. The tall Canterbury and Nottinghamshire all-rounder trained lightly with the team yesterday morning, bowling and batting only briefly, but later reported significant improvement in his condition, saying hope still remained for his participation in today’s match.

the New r Zealand captain, Geoff Howarth, also seemed considerably cheered after speaking w’ith Hadlee, indicating that the 34-year-old fast, bowler would be included in New Zealand's 12man match squad on the

strength of present fitness. “At the moment Richard is a lot more optimistic about playing tomorrow than he was yesterday," Howarth said.

“Obviously he will have to pass a fitness test before a final decision is made but at the moment his chances of playing are about 50-50.

"He told me that he was a lot more confident today than he has been since the injury first happened, so that's a good sign." Hadlee's participation in the New Zealanders' training session yesterday morning w r as only fleeting but it was no less encouraging for that. He neither limped nor favoured his injured right leg, appearing unhampered in his bowling action and when jogging in the field. He joined the team's pretraining warm-up. left soon afterwards for physiotherapy. then returned late in the session to bowl and bat without obvious difficulty. That freedom of movement filled the team physiotherapist, Graham Alison, with clear satisfaction.

“No-one. even a physio-

therapist, can tell how much pain a player is feeling." he said later.’ "In my business that is the great unknown. "Pain is different things to different people, and some react differently to it from others. It is the’one thing we cannot judge. "Although I am still not sure about the extent of Richard’s injury. he appeared to be moving better today than he has previously.

"He did several circuits of the oval after I gave him a rub-down today and that’s a good sign even if a hamstring injury is a very difficult problem to deal with." Mr Alison said.

A serious hamstring strain would take up to 21 days to heal. Mr Alison said. Hadlee's injury appeared to be of a very minor nature and he might conceivably be fit to play today.

Howarth, in the meantime, has moved to cover any eventually.

He spoke to members of the national selection panel on Monday, telling them that a replacement was not immediately necessary. To Back Page