Early birthday presents for Morrison

Press, 3 February 1987, Page 34

Early birthday presents for Morrison

by

JOHN COFFEY

Today is Danny Morrison’s twenty-first birthday. But the Auckland medium-fast bowler celebrated his cricketing coming of age at Dudley Park, Rangiora, yesterday with a truly outstanding Shell Trophy performance against Canterbury.

Morrison took seven wickets for 82 runs and was primarily responsible for Canterbury falling 71 runs short of Auckland’s first innings total of 323. By stumps Auckland had increased its over-all advantage to 122 runs. With only Richard Reid dismissed, Auckland has* more than enough skilled batsmen in reserve to set Canterbury a difficult winning proposition when the game is completed today. The stockily-built Morrison passed his first severe test this summer when he headed off a seemingly bottomless reservoir of promising young pace bowlers vying for a place alongside the experienced Gary Troup, Martin Snedden and Stu Gillespie in his province’s first XI. Morrison consolidated his status within the team, but until yesterday had to be content with bowling returns which only hinted that a significant breakthrough was in the offing. The best of those analyses was three for 24, against Canterbury at Auckland. After troubling the Canterbury opening batsmen, John Wright and Blair Hartland, and battling the heat of Sunday evening and yesterday morning, Morrison suddenly began to turn potential into the finished product. In the thirteenth over of his twelfth first-class appearance, Morrison started his almost singlehanded destruction of the Canterbury line-up by having Hartland caught at second slip. There -was still more than a little encouragement in the pitch for the seamers, and Morrison was not deterred that the gleam had gone from the ball. His third spell brought him three for 23, his next turn gave him two for seven, and Morri-

son came back with the second new ball to finish the task. Mustering considerable speed, Morrison forced Paul McEwan back and in front, and tempted Wright to play wide of the off stump. After Gillespie had wrecked a promising fourth-wicket partnership by David Boyle and David Hartshorn, Morrison returned to find the edges of Vaughan Brown’s and Rod Latham’s bats. He might have added David Farrant, too, but Gillespie, in attempting a catch at third slip, so seriously injured a thumb that he is unlikely to take any further part in the match. Morrison was by now quite willing to do Gillespie’s share (and probably Snedden’s as well, had they allowed him to bowl at both ends), nor was his enthusiasm dented when Paul Kelly, the wicket-keeper, dropped Richard Hadlee. Instead, Morrison capitalised on the wearing pitch, having Barry Ward leg before wicket and bowling Stu Roberts. What he lacks in height was compensated for by the strength of his shoulders; he must surely have many more such profitable days. If a young fast bowler took top honours, then Canterbury provided a youngster and a fast bowler to share some of the limelight. - Hartland clearly has a future on cricket’s high plateaus. He could hardly have been given a more severe debut, yet displayed the talent, technique and temperament to combat Morrison’s pace, the experience of Snedden and Gillespie, and John Bracewell’s wiles. A cover drive off Bracewell was as fine a shot as any other yesterday, and he went to his 50

in 162 minutes and 129 balls by taking 14 runs in an over from Gillespie. His one blemish against Morrison apart, Hadlee showed a welcome return to batting form in reaching his 50 from 81 balls.

Wright was Canterbury’s third half-centu-rion. His innings featured 10 boundaries, but there were long flat patches in a stay of 190 minutes. There is no doubting, however, that Wright was a perfect partner for young Hartland. The fate of the match is now in the tactics of the Auckland captain, Dipak Patel. Canterbury’s cricket followers hope he proves more enterprising than Martin Crowe when Central Districts visited recently.

AUCKLAND First innings 323 Second innings R. B. Reid lbw b Roberts. 5 P. A. Home not out ... . 13 P. N. Webb not out 28 Extras (lb 4 nbl) ...;.. 5 Total (for 1 wkt) ...... 51 Fall: 5. Bowling.—R. J. Hadlee 6,2, 7,0; S. J. Roberts 8,2, 24, 1 (nbl); V. R. Brown 5,3, 3,1; D. J. Hartshorn 3,0, 13, 0. CANTERBURY First innings B. R. Hartland c Bracewell b Morrison 52 J. G. Wright c Kelly b Morrison 54 P. E. McEwan lbw b Morrison 2 D. J. Boyle lbw b Gillespie. 25 D. J. Hartshorn c Bracewell b Gillespie .... 22 V. R. Brown c Kelly b Morrison 10 R. T. Latham c Horne b Morrison 4 D. G. Farrant c Morrison b Bracewell 9 R. J. Hadlee not out. ... 50 B. J. Ward lbw b Morrison. 11 S. J. Roberts b Morrison . O Extras (lb 6 nb7) 13 Total 252 Fall: 84, 104, 117, 166, 171, 180, 181, 215, 246. Bowling—D. K. Morrison 29.3, 10, 82, 7 (nb3); M. C. Snedden 28, 8, 62, 0 (nb4); S. R. Gillespie 15, 4, 51, 2; J. G. Bracewell 24, 13, 46, 1; D. N. Patel 4,3, 5, 0. Umpires: P. F. Carrick and R. L. McHarg.