England’s picnic hardly worth remembering

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 80

England’s picnic hardly worth remembering

NPA-AAP Nottingham The first 10 days of the Ashes series produced enthralling cricket. Alas, the eleventh did not. The first day of the Third Test at Trent Bridge will live in David Gower’s memory for it contained his first century as England’s captain. But, when asked in years to come what they were doing on July 11, 1985, the witnesses will surely plead temporary amnesia. It was not the fault of Gower or the other three England batsmen that yesterday’s play was lacklustre, but of the Australian bowlers who sent down 80 overs, most of which were, at best, innocuous. Australia’s star paceman, Geoff Lawson, has had, by his high standards, a disappointing series. He bowled no better yesterday than he did in the first two Tests, but was by a mile the pick of the Australian attack, again numbering only four after the relegation to twelfth man of rookie fast bowler, Dave Gilbert. Craig McDermott, one of the heroes of Australia’s Second Test win at Lord’s, conceded 28 runs from his first four overs of full tosses and half-volleys and was promptly removed from the attack. He bowled better later on, but it would have been impossible not to. Simon O’Donnell tried

hard but he was inclined to bowl too short too often. Even the usually immaculate leg-spin of Bob Holland was below par. He had to toss the ball above head height to make it turn and the batsmen found runs easy to come by from his bowling. It was hard to gauge whether England’s batsmen had a picnic more because of the excellence of the wicket or the ineptitude of the bowling. Until a stoppage for bad light 57 minutes after the start of play, not a ball passed the bat, giving spectators the belief that the curator Ron Allsopp had prepared a batting paradise. England’s comfortable

position at the close two for 277, threatened to become impregnable by early yesterday, with Gower having visions of a total of about 600. It will come as no surprise if Gower, 107 not out at the close, racks up another 110 runs which would take him past 5000 in tests. Gower’s century came from 167 balls and included nine fours. Most of his boundaries, and indeed the great percentage of his runs, came from deflections eased into gaps in the field. His was the innings of the day, but Robinson, Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting also took advantage of the ordinary fare that was served up to them. The Australians arrived in Nottingham full of expectation after their great win in the Second Test at Lord’s. Unless the batsmen improve on what the bowlers did yesterday, they will again find themselves one down in the series. Scores: ENGLAND first innings G. Gooch c Wessels b Lawson 70 T. Robinson c Border b Lawson 38 D. Gower not out 107 M. Gatting not out... . 53 Extras (lbB nb3) 11 Total (for 2 wkts) 279 Fall: 55, 171. Bowling: G. Lawson 24.4,7, 58, 2 (2nb), C. McDermott 18, 0, 84, 0 (lnb), S. O’Donnell 21, 3, 72, 0, R. Holland 17, 1, 57, 0.