Musings from the press bench

Press, 10 February 1989, Page 26

Musings from the press bench

By

JOHN COFFEY

Those who write about cricket had plenty of time to muse that it is indeed a funny old game as they sat in near-empty grandstands at Carisbrook and other venues when rain prevented or interrupted play last week-end. The Americans, of course, would never have put up with it. Carisbrook, Lancaster Park and the like would have all been doomed years ago and potential draws would have been avoided by a single-stump shoot-out between the opposing fast bowlers. They would never have suffered the disappointments experienced by the administrators and volunteers who toiled so hard to make what would have been Dunedin’s ninth test match a success. Journalists and others who follow the test cricket circuit regret that .Carisbrook is awarded a fiveday match only about every four years. The hospitality is just so much warmer than in the bigger cities and the food, prepared by an assembly line of willing workers, invariably quite magnificent. But Carisbrook under the overcast sky is not a pretty sight. The weather between last Friday and Sunday did its utmost to turn the land back to its old marshy state, while there was not even a glimpse of a South African scout lurking near the players’ quarters to excite those twiddling their thumbs at the press benches. So Dunedin has earned a line in "Wisden” alongside Manchester (twice) and Melbourne as the only test venue where matches have been abandoned because of poor weather without a ball being bowled.

That is a little unfair because the skies brightened sufficiently for a limited-over fixture to be played on Monday.

Other tests have been cancelled. In 1980-81 the “Robin Jackman affair” put. paid to the planned match between England and the West Indies at Georgetown, Guyana. Jackman was not welcome because of his South African associations, and England was then adamant that its former colonies would not have a say in its team selection. That might have been a shame, for its own selectors have hardly distinguished themselves this decade. New Zealand’s most recent tour to Sri Lanka was also cut short after only one of the three tests because of civil disturbances. And for a few weeks late last year England was to have come to this country for two tests after India had closed the door to a whole squad of Englishmen, of birth or adoption, with South African connections. In the midst of all the recent tests that never were, the people of Dunedin did not deserve to be treated so grubbily by nature. Two of the participants were affected more than most. Richard Hadlee now has a shortened series in which to become the first claimant of 400 test wickets, and Aaqib Javed seems destined to go into the record books as the second . youngest test player at 16 years and 189 (instead of 182) days. But he cannot afford another wash-out at Wellington, or he will slip to third. It was heartening,

though, that the New Zealand and Pakistan camps came to an agreement to provide some cricket while they were in the south.

On more than a few occasions the impression has been given by players, and umpires, that the main object is to speculate when the game might get under way rather than to actually do just that. There was yet another example of cricketers deciding not to be cricketers at Adelaide late last week. Dean Jones and Allan Border had worked hard to achieve a rare dominance over the West Indian fast bowling quartet on the first day of their fifth test. The West Indians had managed to deliver only 81 of the 90 overs required of them that day, and the Australian batsmen had the right to keep their rivals out in the middle until the full allocation was served to them. But instead of looking forward to another' 30 or 40 runs and advancing the match another notch, the two Australians held a sub-committee meeting and decided to go home. Thousands of angry spectators did not get a vote. One wonders why the International Cricket Conference brings in regulations which have no teeth. Border is deserving of the utmost admiration for his world-class deeds in a fairly ordinary Australian side over a long period. But it was justice that he got his come-uppance by being one of several quick wickets to fall early on the second day. With thoughts still directed overseas, it is

interesting that Navjot Singh Sidhu is almost certain to be in the Indian team for its trip to the West Indies in spite of the charge of “culpable homicide short of murder” hanging over his head. It would be understandable if the relatives of the late Gurnam Singh — the motorist Sidhu beat to death in a Patiala street — do not engage in national rejoicing if Sidhu comes up with a test century on the tour. On the other hand, the judiciary could sentence Sidhu to three, test matches against Malcolm Marshall and his cohorts, sans protective equipment. A Sidhu stripped of thigh, arm and chest pads and without a box might in future be more tolerant with his fellow road users. Back in this country it was probably appropriate that three Shell Trophy fixtures were all shortened by rain. Not that euchre was the only game in town. Mere mortals such as Lindsay Crocker (twice) and Graham Burnett had statisticians wondering whether wickets had fallen previously from the first deliveries of three innings in one match. Poor Crocker could only look on in awe as his Northern Districts teammate, Graeme Hick, imperiously thrashed the Wellington bowling for two centuries. It was left to Canterbury to complete an unusually long week-end with what might be a unique happening, at least in New Zealand first-class cricket. Have two overnight batsmen previously been forced to retire hurt? As they say, it never rains — but it pours.