Date-stamped : 28 Jan95 - 14:37 England tread carefully in heat World Series Thorpe suffering from exhaustion after quelling Zimbabwean enthusiasm at end of demanding week Victory over newcomers secured at third attempt By Scyld Berry Queensland is full of bananas, and the crowd of 9,589 which turned up at the Gabba was largely desirous of seeing England slip on the skin of one. That England did not - after two con- secutive Tests, and in punishing heat, and after another poor start - was highly commendable. The heat was pulsatingly fierce in sub-tropical Brisbane and the humidity, which was 83 per cent when the game began at 9am, made it feel all the more so. For scoring 89 from 121 balls in these conditions Graham Thorpe was rewarded not only with a cheque as man of the match but also with heat exhaustion. After his innings, which included an all-run four, Thorpe ran up a temperature of 101 and vomited so much in the dressing-room that he could not be rehydrated. He was taken to the Mater Hospital, and spent last night on an intravenous drip. Mike Atherton, stoic to the core, would not complain after- wards about England's itinerary, and simply observed that a com- bination of circumstances had made yesterday so arduous. But their physiotherapist, David Roberts, believed that Thorpe was suffering from the cumulative effect of too much punishing crick- et. Nobody could have foreseen a four-hour final session in Syd- ney last Thursday. But England were always scheduled for 10 days' Test cricket out of the 14 before yesterday, and on two of the remaining days they had plane journeys. The puritanical then cri- ticised them for taking one day's break! If England had to play a qualifying match in Australia yesterday, it should have been somewhere more temperate - like the west coast of Tasmania where the Roaring Forties come ashore, not Brisbane. In this heat there is justification for playing 'quartered' one-day cricket at all levels, so that nobody is exposed to the sun too long. Roberts estimated that a player had to drink 15 to 20 litres on such a day. In the end the sweating was all worthwhile, as Eng- land at last defeated Zimbabwe at the third attempt. As a result they drew level on points with Australia A, who meet Australia today. Later this week England will have to defeat one or other to qualify, and probably improve their run-rate too. England were sensible to introduce the fresh energy of Neil Fairbrother, while Joey Benjamin made a guest appearance in place of Angus Fraser, last seen at the end of his heroic spell not knowing what part of his anatomy to clutch. The energy was not apparent when Fair- brother batted, for he dawdled in mid-pitch when taking a single, and failed to beat a throw from square-leg by Heath Streak that was typically Zimbabwean in its zest. In the field, though, Fairbrother was so outstanding that he could have been Zimbabwe- an. So could Graeme Hick, if he hadn't been already. It was a revelation to see an English fielder moving in quickly, keeping his centre of gravity low, and throwing in flat, and taking an interest in keeping pressure on the batsmen. Fairbrother brought off a brilliant run-out when he tore in from midwicket, dived and under-armed to the keeper, dismissing Iain Butchart on a TV re- play. Batting in Test matches is another matter, unless Fair- brother has changed his square-of-the-wicket style when in Transvaal. In his last Test - against Sri Lanka in 1993 - he was bowled trying to clip a leg-stump half-volley through square leg. The stifling day was made longer by five hold-ups for adjudica- tions by television: four run-out appeals and the stumping of Steve Rhodes, who otherwise enjoyed his best game since the Bris- bane Test. This procedure is becoming irksome: all too often there is a camera which is not at the correct angle, or an umpire is blocking the view, or the umpire fails to call for a replay, as Darrell Hair has done twice to England in Sydney. Yesterday Fairbrother was given run out by a whisker, yet Andy Flower when 32 was given not out when barely an inch closer to the line. The decision effectively boiled down to the opinion of the third um- pire, not to objective fact. So why not leave it all up to the two umpires in the middle, provided they are the best, profes- sional and full-time? Human error is acceptable if kept to the minimum. Thanks to Thorpe, England's total, though modest, was their highest against Zimbabwe, after being 20 for two in the eighth over. England have been almost as short of runs as Zim- babwe have been in Australia. England seem to make large totals only in the second innings of important matches, which is not much help in a one-day international. Zimbabwe resorted to the novel tactic of introducing a new bowler every few overs, ending up with non-spinning spinners. Streak is the nearest they come to a bowler who can force a batsman back; Paul Strang loops a promising leg-break, and every fielder supports. It is in batting that Zimbabwe are painfully short of talent (they have yet to win an international by chasing). Andy Flower, wiry and left-handed, is international standard, as is David Houghton who went home for Christmas. The rest are all too close to minor county standard, bottom-handed pushers brought up on low pitches who have never learnt to play back. An end to this shortage is not in sight. Their black population is producing fast bowlers but batting, and in particular a long Test innings, is such a complicated mental and technical process that exponents cannot be produced by a few clinics. If all their native-born cricketers played for Zimbabwe, they would stand a fine chance. But, almost by definition, every high-class cricketer will leave to play professionally elsewhere, since there is no money in a sport watched by so few. Pakistan will visit them soon, for a three-Test series. England's problems seem relatively minor. Scyld Berry, the Sunday Telegraph's cricket correspondent, has been highly commended in the inaugural Commonwealth Media Awards for his outstanding work during 1994. The Commonwealth Secretari- at released the results in New Zealand this week. Thanks :: The Sunday Telegraph Contributed by Vicky (vigneswa@sisko.ecs.umass.edu)