Dynamic Botham turns on the power

Press, 10 January 1984, Page 26

Dynamic Botham turns on the power

NZPA staff correspondent Auckland

Slimmer, trimmer and more dynamic than the player seen in Auckland last season, lan Botham distinguished an otherwise dismal day as the opening match of England’s cricket tour of New Zealand against Auckland ended in a draw yesterday.

Bob Willis’s decision to allow rusty batsmen time for acclimatisation after Bob Taylor and Mike Gatting rallied England’s innings, saw the three-dayer plod towards a predictable end with little to interest spectators. Taylor and Gatting’s dour stand, which saw 130 added for the fifth wicket, was impressive if not eventful. The responsibility for instilling incident in a day long bound for a lethargic ending was left to Botham who wiped memories of his first innings duck and oozed awesome form for the coming three-test series.

He appeared at the crease shortly before lunch at the end of Gatting’s innings and on the dissolution of the hardy pair’s marathon partnership.

In the 10 minutes to lunch he was circumspect and not always confident, protecting the injured toe which prevented him from fielding

during Auckland’s first innings and threatened to curb his batting yesterday.

After lunch, however, he was a different man. He struck the first ball of the afternoon session from the century-maker John Bracewell to the mid-off boundary for four, then in a torrid 18 minutes rattled on 40 more runs.

A previously quiet crowd was treated in those 18 minutes to an exhibition of the complete Botham repertoire. He drove, hooked and cut to bring up all but eight of his runs from boundaries, striking two huge sixes from Bracewell whose figures became suitably tarnished. He even flourished the Botham patent back-handed sweep and spectators, recognising it, howled their approval. Pity on an otherwise drab day that the innings was so brief. On 44, Botham holed out, as all big hitters do, to mid-off. attempting a further boundary. England, on his departure, were 241 for six, nearing a score at which a declaration would have been possible. But the captain, Bob Willis, decided the rustiness of his batsmen invited further time at the wicket and he added, in an interview later, that the wicket itself tended to preclude the

chance of a result. “I never thought we had time to bowl Auckland out on that pitch,” Willis said, adding that the strip had played slower and flatter as the match wore on.

Instead, England batted on to reach 321 in their innings, leaving Auckland 100 minutes to chase 259 runs for victory. It was a task they were too wise to attempt.

By stumps they had reached 58 for the loss of Trevor Franklin’s wicket with opener Peter Webb adding an unbeaten 41 to his first innings score of 38. The day ended, therefore, with only occasional flourishes. Webb struck successive fours from the bowling of both Nick Cook and Neil Foster and offered infrequent chances, one dropped by Graham Dilley at deep backward square leg. Otherwise he and Mark Greatbatch, 10 not out when stumps were drawn, joined the Englishmen in their search for batting practice. If practice was the name of yesterday’s game, then no-one got more than the England keeper, Bob Taylor.

He occupied the crease yesterday and on Sunday for a total of 289 minutes.

Taylor’s was an innings of value which rapidly became an innings of no real conse-

quence. As he struggled with Gatting to retrieve England’s innings after their resumption yesterday at 105/4 he was playing a crucial role in a dogged English fight-back. As his innings dragged on late into the afternoon, however, and as all chance of a result consequently faded, his innings grew only in academic worth.

With Gatting, Taylor had added 130 runs for the fifth wicket in a partnership lasting 189 minutes and 299 balls and ending with Gatting’s dismissal just before lunch. Gatting in turn had scored 64, his second half century of the match, in a similarly lengthy style. The fight-back was at first inspiring, later it became wearing. Auckland, denied a chase for victory, at least had the honour of bowling England out yesterday for the second time in the match.

The captain, Jeff Crowe, pleased for his team-mates at the sudden improvement in their form after a poor showing in the Shell series so far, said it was in Auckland’s ability to bowl England out twice that a small home side victory was achieved.

“We’ve come away from the match in good spirits,” he said, “and that’s all we wanted to do.”

ENGLAND First innings 220 Second innings G. Fowler c Kelly b Troup 6 C. Tavare c Kelly b Tracy. 2 D. Gower lbw Troup ... 33 A. Lamb c Kelly b Snedden 15 M. Gatting b Bracewell. . 64 R. Taylor lbw Snedden . . 86 I. Botham c Greatbatch b Hellaby 44 G. Dilley c Kelly b Hellaby 28 N. Cook b Hellaby 8 N. Foster b Tracy 8 R. Willis not out 4 Extras (6b, 121 b, snb). . 23 Total 321 Fall: 3, 13, 56, 62, 192, 241, 304, 317, 321. Bowling—Tracy 16, 2, 49, 2; Troup 22, 4,-61, 2; Snedden 25, 9, 50, 2; Bracewell 27, 4, 90, 1; Reid 4,0, 7,0; Hellaby 19.4, 9, 41, 3. AUCKLAND First innings 283/8 dec. Second innings P. Webb not out 41 T. Franklin c Taylor b Dilley 0 M. Greatbatch not out . . 10 Extras (lb, 31b, 3nb). . . 7 Total (for 1 wkt) 58 Fall: 1. Bowling.—Willis 3,2, 5,1; Dilley 4,2, 4,0; Foster 5,0, 25, 0; Cook 5,2, 17, 0; Gatting 2,2, O, 0.