Illness scare in N.Z. cricket camp

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 72

Illness scare in N.Z. cricket camp

From

JOHN COFFEY

in Dunedin

John Bracewell and Ewen Chatfield have

Illness to Bracewell and Chatfield ’caused New Zealand officials to «jummon a doctor io I the team’s, hotel. and neither player took pan in the net practice yesterday afternoon. They are suffering from influenza and being treated with antibiotics in a bid to have them in action today. What ! had been a straightforward selection was thrown into disarray, and the New Zealand coach land co-selector. Gren Alabaster, has jconsidered la number of options. i It was intended to| rest Jones so that his injured wrist could be given further treatment leading up to the Second Rothmans Cup match at Lancaster Park on Saturday. But if either Bracewell or Chatfield was forced to withdraw from today's game it! might be decided to include Jones. That -would weaken the bowling, with Ken Rutherford and Chris Kuggeleijn having to ! deliver 10 overs each, i

Alternatively, an early morning medical check could lead to a call for one or more replacements before the 10 a.m. start of Play, j Derek Walker, a useful all-rounder for Otago, was at training yestersday. Other southern contenders would be the Otago and former) New Zealand representative, Bruce Blair, the sturdy Southland farmer) John Wilson, or. from ja little further afield,, Rod Latham, of Canterbury.

The INew Zealand side already has a revised appearance with the promotions of Richard Reid and Kuggeleijn. Amid the black Jand white tracksuited trainees Reid stood out in | his yellow jersey and blue trousers, -Kuggeleijn |in a less conspicuous blue and white'combination. If Refid is as sharp withi the bal{ today as he was with his one-liners ' in a brief |news conference yesterday then his presence will give New Zealand's batting the desired early run-scoring boost. Askdd if his selection had come out of the blue. Reid agreed, adding “and the yellow, and the green

It was suggested to him that his brief would be to hit over the top of England’s restricted field placings in the first 15 overs.

"They haven’t picked me to block it, that’s for sure. They didn’t select me to play like Boycott," said Reid.

Referring to his lack of recent representative play, Reid said the selectors could not have chosen him on form. "I haven’t had any form since I last played for Auckland two months ago. Instead, they must have chosen me on the hope and promise of what I might be capable of." Reid gives the appearance of the village blacksmith-type hardhitter. He favours tinted spectacles, and has grown a beard since suffering a gashed chin while fielding at slip in a Shell Cup game on New Year’s Day.

, The most recent occasion that Reid was in Dunedin for an international match was two years ago, when he represented a brewery which sponsored the Australian touring team. His phy-

joined Andrew Jones as doubtful starters in the New ; Zealand cricket team to begin the international limited-over series against England at Carisbrook tdday.

sique suggested he enjoyed that assignment. Breeding is also on his side. His father. John R. Reid, still holds the world first-class record of most (15) sixes in an innings, set in the course of scoring 296 for Wellington against Northern Districts at the Basin Reserve in 1962-63. The innings also contained 35 fours. “I have spoken to Dad about my selection. He was pretty. happy, delighted,” said Reid, whose father is living in South Africa.

“You could say that I'm happier to be here than Auckland — Auckland in almost in Kerikeri,” he said of the severe northern weather he had swapped for a fine, cool day in Dunedin. Less delighted with the conditions was Mike Gatting, the England captain, who expects free scoring to be difficult on the same Carisbrook pitch as that used by the three-day match between the tourists and the President’s XI about three weeks ago. “It doesn’t look like it will have a very even bounce — I can remember a few of the cracks from last time,” said Gatting, in predicting 220 would be a very satisfactory total. England has retained its third test lineup as much as possible. Graham Dilley was not considered because of his knee injury, and two other medium-fast men, Neal Radford and Paul Jarvis, were named in the 12. The retention of Eddie Hemmings allows England the option of using two spinners, Bruce French’s fine wicket-keeping form in the tests enabled him to keep that role head of Jack Richards, who is a more effective batsman and was a test centurymaker against Australia at Perth last summer. The teams are.—

England: Mike Gatting (captain), Chris Broad, Martyn Moxon, Tim Robinson, Neil Fairbrother, David Capel, John Emburey, Bruce French, Phil Defreitas, Eddie Hemmings, Paul Jarvis, Neal Radford.

New Zealand: John Wright (captain), Richard Reid, Andrew Jones, Martin Crowe, Mark Greatbatch, Ken Rutherford, Chris Kuggeleijn, John Bracewell, lan Smith, Martin Snedden, Willie Watson. Ewen Chatfield.