Luck with N.Z. on familiar opening day

Press, 4 March 1988, Page 34

Luck with N.Z. on familiar opening day

| From

JOHN COFFEY

in Wellington

England suffered sufficient misfortune from its opponents and natural causes at the Basin Reservfe | yesterday to have done without the influence (of an enemy from within during the first day of the third cricket test against New Zealand.

Not mudh wentj right for England as the New Zealand ba'tsmen steadily compiled 192 runs for .the loss of three wickets; — almost a carbon copy of the opening day at Eden park the previous week. If ■ the Englishmen wanted to bemoan their luck, they equid most readily refer to an incident involving! the , New Zealand! [captain, John Wright, j soon after I his opening 1 partner, Trevor Franklin, (had been dismissed. | | Wright had a delivery from Davi'd Capel squeeze between bat add pad; and strike his! off-stump with : sufficient forc[e to [ricochet towards gully. Ajnaz- • ingly, the bail bridging; middle I and off stumps ; lifted a:centimetre or two , at one end before nestling | back intopits It transpires that( the bails uspd[ to combat the frequently windy condi- . tions in Wellington![ are hewn from lignum vitae, a particularly hdrd wood, ( imported from! England. ( _ Wright Was on 22 when [ the freak (occurrence I pro-! tected I his wicket. ; Although hej.added only another 14 j runs} his presence assisted Robert Vance [find his poise at test level land denied ;Eng-; land any encouragement in conditions | made 5 for batsmen ' prepared: to patiently [gather runs. The i tourists will be; pleased to see the last of Wright! in this Rothmans series. So far he has ;spent 930 minutes 4- more than two and a half playing days 4- at the crease for his 221 I runs from five innings, j } Already Wright has made his first significant coup as [ national captain. His England (counterpart, Mike Gatting! called incorrectly at the toss and the tourists (were automatically consigned to a long day, if [one blessed by perfect weather, in the field. | I By stumps many of them would [rather have been somewhere — anywhere -4 else. ; The bouncipg bail compounded! a succession of BNbacks! when Franklin wfc 10 (and the total 19, England’s main strike bowler, [ Graham Dilley, and many of his [teammates (were convinced

| Franklin had been taught [behind by Bruce Fiench. [ i It probably improved Dilley’s mood not at all; ' that the umpire who re--jected his appeal, Brian Aldridge, was an old acI quaintance from th3’ first; I test in Christchurch.. There Dilley had been! fined £250 for showing; dissent at. Mr Aldridge’s; ' decisions. On this occasion any! ' gush of expletives was choked in Dilley’s throat by the knowledge ae still owes his , manager Peter Lush, a cheque for that amount. But after [one more ball, and apparently a few words from Dilley to Franklin, Gatti n = felt it necessary to jog 30 metres and calm his player. [ Later in the day Dilley had to leave the field with a puffed right knee, a problem which is causing some concern in t ie England camp. The second (new ball is overdue,! but Dilley’s presence on; the oval this morning is in some doubt. ( “For a bowler of his . I type the lack of a fest day in a test is a significant (factor. We always have rest days in England,” ; I said Mr Lush. j | Mr Lush’s medical report was lengthy, though Martyn Moxon, Tim Robinson and the substitute, Bill Athey, suffered no lasting harm when struck in close fielding positions. Phil DeFreitas, who upstaged Dilley in an opening spell of one for >• nine from 11 overs, collapsed spectacularly with cramp when resuming after tea. He returned after treatment. | Quite correctly, Mr aidridge gave Wright, when still 22, the benefit of a run out photo finish. England’s cause I suffered more severely when John Emburey spi led a straight-forward j slips catch from Margin Crowe of Capel’s bowling. Such a. sight has been all too common on this tour. The England slips field has held only seven of 24 chances (since the Bicentennial test in Sydney five weeks ago. Reprieved at sax, Martin Crowe has gradually regained some of liis splomb ip attaining his| first half century of the series. England’s luck changed

just once, when Vance’s maiden test innings was cruelly ended by a misunderstanding with Crowe. Vance never contemplated a third run, was horrified to see his partner sprinting towards him, and had no prospect of gaining his crease. The most attractive batting has been that of Mark Greatbatch, who proved himself to be anything but a one-test wonder. Greatbatch has been confident in his driving of both spin and seam bowling and already has six boundaries. If not exactly chewing on his gloves, Vance struggled through a nervous start to fully justify his inclusion. He was philosophical about his dismissal — “it’s part of the game; Martin is a good guy to run with because he’s so quick and I don’t mind quick singles.” Crowe struck three fours in one over from Eddie Hemmings. But the rotund England offspinner, who would not look out of place in a pub darts team, also stifled Crowe’s stroke play for long periods. Crowe was becalmed for 27 minutes on 16, and needed 133 minutes and 118 balls for his half century. There was. little the England bowlers could do to prevent the New Zealanders progressing to a comfortable stumps position. DeFreitas earned his recall, Dilley and Capel demanded caution, and Emburey and Hemmings unearthed some slow turn. If a result is to be reached in this series it is unlikely to be by explosive means, but rather the chipping away at the solid rock of defensive bats. England might not relish haying to play the fourth innings. NEW ZEALAND First innings J. G. Wright c Fairbrother b Capel 36 T. J. Franklin lbw b DeFreitas H R. H. Vance run out. ... 47 M. D. Crowe not out . . . 57 M. J. Greatbatch not out. 34 Extras (lb 4 4 Total (for 3 wkts) 192 Fall: 33, 79. 132. Bowling:—G. R. Dilley 11, 1, 36, 0; P. A. J. DeFreitas 21.1, 10, 31. 1; D. J. Capel 19. 4, 42. 1; J. M. Emburey 19.5, 5, 33, 0; E. E. Hemmings 21, 9, 46, 0. Umpires: B. L. Aldridge and S. J. Woodward.