Captains positive

Press, 8 March 1988, Page 44

Captains positive

The opposing captains, John Wright and jilike Gatting, preferred to , 1 emphasise the positive; aspects of the Rothmans: test cricket series which ended in a very wet We 1ington yesterday. ; Both were pleased wi h the emergence of batsmen to replace more experienced players jwl.o had not been available, and considered their respective squads to) te stronger than at the start of the England tour. j Wright, who led New Zealand for the first tin e at the Basin Reserve, sa d he did not agree fully with criticisms of > the largely defensive crickjet seen in the tests. ! ; “From the results some , people are going to say[ it. was a dull series. In some ways I don’t agree with that,” he said. [ "In - Christchurch we were a bit fortunate that we lost play through the weather because there could easily have been a result: It was a result wicket and to have made only 160-odd in our| first innings meant we had our backs to the wall. | , “At - Auckland | the wicket made it hard [ to score quickly enough ! to produce a result. But! at the end of the fourth day we were under some pressure. Then you get the plus of Mark Greatbatch playing so. well," said Wright. “It was a good batting

strip here in Wellington, though with perhaps not enough pace as you would want for dominant strokeplay. [On the second day there was magnificent batting from Martin Crowe, Keri Rutherford, -John Bracewell and Mark Greatbatch. ' [ I “Test cricket doesn't always produce: the high drama that! some people would like [to; see.; That will be provided in the one-day series,i” he said, i A balance had to be found between I the pitches prepared fhr some recent tests as against | those which led to matches being completed ini quick time in previous series. Wright was satisfied that plans werp in hand to improve the conditon of Eden Park;. [ i ■ i “Sure, we 'are in the entertainment; (business. But I think one of the - great thinjgs [about! New Zealand cricket[ at, home is our reputation 'for being very difficult to .beat. "i I "It .would | have) been nice to have won the test series. Butjwb go [out to play test [cricket to win and generally in trie past we have achieved that. We play as hard [as we can. Really that is what test cricket is all ! about, and your opposition does exactly the same.f said Wright. ;| ; [ “If you start off with a policy of entertainment at all costs you could; be 90 ; for nine by the end of the

first session. “I don’t think the public has b[een bored. Although the pilay might be a bit slow! [at times they enjoy their cricket and they like to se[e New Zealand do well [against other international sides. We’re that sort of country, we like to win,”[he said. Wright has enjoyed his brief term as captain, and “if the opportunity pre,sents itself I’d be happy to do it iagain.” i ; So, [ too, would Gatting, who said he believed England I was now better suited for its home tests against the West Indies later [this year. Gatting hinted that he felt |New Zealand had adopted a safety-first attitude after Richard Hadlee was injured — "though when .you lose so fine a player as Hadlee it is probably the way to play it.” He, too, made mention of the test pitches. J ‘ “Christchurch i was a result wicket because Christchurch is Christchurch; I didn’t dream Eden Park would be that bad; [at least there was a little [ bit of bounce in Wellington even though the grass was taken off because New Zealand had decided to use two spinners,” said Gatting. He denied that was an accusation . that the pitches had been “doctored” to suit the home teamL