Hadlee trump card for third test

Press, 26 December 1987, Page 34

Hadlee trump card for third test

By

DAVID LEGGAT,

of NZPA in Melbourne

New Zealand could yet get the green, grassy strip it wants for the deciding third cricket test against Australia, starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

For the iasi montn me New Zealand players have heard grim reports about the state of the Melbourne pitch, but were pleasantly surprised by its condition when they had their final practise session yesterday.

Instead of a brown, discouraging strip they found a considerable amount of grass and enough moisture there to be optimistic going into a test New Zealand must win to square the series.

The state of the pitch prompted the coach, Gren Alabaster, to nominate the champion fast bowler, Richard Hadlee, as the single most influential factor if New Zealand is to achieve its sixth test victory over Australia.

Hadlee is 11 wickets short of eclipsing the England allrounder lan Botham’s world record of test wickets, 373.

“He’s our trump card. His performance in Adelaide (five for 68 off 42 overs) was pretty superb.

“He's a class bowler and there are a number of Australian batsmen who must be terribly concerned every time he comes on to bowl because he is such a craftsman,” Mr Alabaster said yesterday.

Hadlee has taken eight wickets in the two completed innings he has bowled in during the series. If New Zealand bowls first — a bold move, but one it could well take given the state of the series — the opening two sessions might well decide the fate of the test. The tour selectors, Mr Alabaster, the captain, Jeff Crowe, and the vice captain, John Wright, named a predictable 12 for the test yesterday.

Those omitted are the medium pacers, Martin Snedden and Willie Watson along with the batsman, Ken Rutherford. The experienced seamer, Ewen Chatfield, gets an anticipated recall at Snedden’s expense and the choice of twelfth man should be between the allrounder, Evan Gray and Dipak Patel. Mr Alabaster said Chat-

field seemed sharper than he had , been going into the second test at Adelaide.

“Chats was struggling a little bit before Adelaide, not because he wasn’t fit. He just seemed to be finding it difficult to get that bit extra out of himself.

"Adelaide was totally unsympathetic to his type of bowling. We didn’t want Chatfield in Adelaide to have a bad game and slave his heart out. He bowled well against Tasmania and at Canberra and he’s the obvious third seamer for Melbourne,” Mr Alabaster said.

Finalising the twelfth man could be a curly decision for the selectors. They must balance the need to have sufficient batsmen to score heavily with the requirement of having enough bowlers to get Australia out twice.

Mr Alabaster said the choice would be almost entirely decided by the condition of the pitch today. “If it is showing the greenness we’re all hoping it will show we might take the risk of going in with four and a half bowlers. If it’s looking like the sort of pitch it’ll be hard to get anybody out on we might go in with five bowlers.

“Evan Gray performed well in the second test, bowled well at Tasmania and in some ways his inclusion is recognition of the fact that we’re very pleased with the way he’s bowled.

“It gives us that other alternative of having five bowlers.” The chosen 12 includes Phil Horne, who seems certain to play his third ttest opening with Wright, while Jeff Crowe will not be forced to dabble with the opener’s spot.

Martin Crowe will again be the core of the batting effort, but Andrew Jones is in good form, Wright and Patel look capable of producing healthy scores, so Crowe might get some substantial support if New Zealand gets the best of the batting conditions. The bowling attack is likely to be based on

Hadlee, Danny Morrison and John Bracewell attacking with Chatfield and perhaps Gray tying down the runs at the other end.

Australia looks like having both its injured fast bowlers, Bruce Reid and Merv Hughes, in the final line-up today. Reid injured his back after just seven overs on the first morning of the second test and has had no cricket since. However, the lanky kingpin of the attack has passed fitness tests and arrived in Melbourne yesterday confident he will last the distance.

Hughes has had a hamstring injury but went through a fitness trial — bowling for a time in the New Zealand nets — and pronounced himself fit to Play.

Certainly the New Zealanders would prefer the erratic Hughes to play than young Victorian medium pacer, Tony Dodemaide, who looked a very useful prospect in the Prime Minister’s XI match at Canberra on Wednesday. The Australian captain, Allan Border, spent yesterday with his family at Cremorne in Sydney before flying south. However, he is taking a positive attitude into the test.

“The way we’re playing now falls into our plans. We’re on top of things now compared to the side of last season.

“Whether we get a result here remains to be seen, but we won’t be going in with a negative attitude. Our goal is 2-0,” he said. Teams. —

Australia: Allan Border (captain), Geoff Marsh, David Boon, Dean Jones, Mike Veletta, Steve Waugh, Peter Sleep, Greg Dyer, Tim May, Bruce Reid, Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes (one to be omitted).

Tony Dodemaide of Victoria and Mike Whitney from New South Wales are on standby.

New Zealand: Jeff Crowe (captain), John Wright, Phil Horne, Andrew Jones, Martin Crowe, Dipak Patel, Evan Gray, John Bracewell, Richard Hadlee, lan Smith, Danny Morrison, Ewen Chatfield (one to be omitted).