Date-stamped : 26 Jul2000 - 10:23
12-16 November 1993
1st Test: Australia v New Zealand, Match Report
Geoff Bethell
Day 1 Report
The game started a little late, and 85 overs were scheduled to be
bowled as a result, in two elongated sessions. The wicket was do- ing
plenty all day (both sideways and variable bounce) and both sides can
feel satisfied with the day's play. New Zealand will need to bat well
tomorrow. The day ended early for bad light. Slater and Boon (first
ball) were out to the new ball bounce, each caught wide at slip or
short leg. Mark Waugh might have got away with his lbw decision in New
Zealand, but it would probably have hit middle and leg or leg. Danny
Morrison has now learned to bowl close to the stumps a-la Hadlee.
Border failed to get to the pitch of his cover drive and was caught at
2nd slip. Taylor's attempted cut ended up bottomed edged into his
stumps. Steve Waugh got an absolute pearler from Patel. It drifted
away to slip, and then turned in to him sharply caught at the
wicket. For New Zealand, the bowling in the middle stages of the
first session was a little wayward and they failed to put enough pres-
sure on Australia.
In the final session the bowling was excellent, and Australia had to
hang on without doing anything silly. One had the impression that
panic was not far away. Towards the end of the session, Crowe took
Patel off, but the quicks were tiring and this took the pressure off.
When offered the light, Australia came off just when they had
weathered the storm. All the bowlers did some good work at various
stages of the day. The fielding was gen- erally of a high
standard. No catches went down (as far as I know!). For Australia,
they would feel that 250 was a good score on this pitch. They are
almost there with only 6 down. Except for Boon, all got a start but
never quite went on with it. Nevertheless, both Waughs played well,
as did Mark Tay- lor. Healy, who battled it out well in the middle of
the final ses- sion when Morrison, Watson, and Cairns were on top, and
Reif- fel got some cheap runs at the end.
Day 2 Report
Australia played well today on a pitch which had flattened out a bit
since yesterday, and on which the ball was coming nicely on to the bat
for the front foot shots. There was still some side- ways movement,
both swing and seam. Led by Healy they reduced New Zealand to
something of a rudderless rabble. Reiffel made a maiden test 50, but
a quick study of his run chart should ensure that he is held in check
in future. Most of his runs are taken square on the offside off the
back foot. He also often fails to get in line in back foot de-
fence. He went caught in the gully - a typical Perth dismissal by all
accounts.
Warne made a few and then played a nothing shot, being taken in a
dolly catch at mid-on. McDermott was his usual self, and made a lusty
35. Healy doesn't look anything special, but is one of those players
who makes the most of his ability. No big flourish, back-lift, or
follow through, but still applies him- self with a good technique. His
running between the wickets makes him an even faster scorer than he
looks. His ton today was his 2nd in tests, apparently. Su'a finished
off the innings with two-in-two. Both deliveries were left arm
over-the- wicket inswingers, McDermott playing all round a yorker, and
then McGrath going lbw first ball "on the straighten-up." New Zealand
fielded badly today, putting down a couple of "regulation" slip
catches. The bowling was of a similar standard without much thought
being put into what constitutes good line and length to individual
batsmen.
New Zealand, particularly through Andrew Jones, played its way back
into the match. A feature of the innings was the pleasing debuts of
Glenn McGrath for Australia and Blair Pocock for New Zealand. McGrath
bowled quite well, with fire, and took the first wick- et, that of
Greatbatch, caught at the wicket - done by the new ball bounce and the
angle across him. McGrath looks to be quick, but perhaps needs to fill
out a bit if he is to last at this lev- el. Shades of Bruce Reid.
Pocock showed good temperament, leaving everything alone out- side off
and thereby putting the pressure back on the bowlers to be accurate.
He played some good shots down the ground but was out to one of those
typical pieces of Boon opportunism at short leg. Aus- tralia needed
that wicket, and Pocock frustrated them for about 3 hours. The wicket
came at a time when New Zealand were going well and looked in control.
Jones was typical Jones scoring mostly off the back foot through the
offside.
Towards the end of the day he looked in com- plete control. This
would be his first test 50 for quite some time. A timely return to
form. For Australia, Reiffel had no-ball problems and never did
himself justice. Warne had 7 overs but only occasionally got one to
turn. He couldn't land his top spinner on the spot and didn't try to
bowl a googly. He might have gone for more, Jones mis- ing some
wayward stuff well outside leg stump. Warne was a little un- lucky in
that he didn't get many balls at the inexperienced Po- cock. The
mainstays of the Australian attack were McGrath and McDermott.
Although neither looked lethal, they kept the batsmen honest. New
Zealand still have a way to go to get to the Australian total and will
need to consolidate tomorrow. But they bat down to no. 8 and with
application have the players to do the job. Crowe's knee may be a
problem. Thanks to Geoff Bethell on r.s.c.
Day 3 Report
The wicket has settled down well now and, whilst there is still a
little swing and seam, it has enough pace to give the good batsman a
fair go. Not quite the classic "belter" but a good pitch
nevertheless. It doesn't look likely to deteriorate on the final day.
New Zealand has done well today, almost reaching the Australian total.
Australia did well in the first two sessions, chipping people out on a
pitch which was really in favour of the batsmen. In the final session,
Blain and Cairns took toll of a tiring attack, and there was little
Australia could do about it. This puts Australia in the vulnerable
spot. There are no second chances after a third innings failure,
whilst the side batting fourth in this situation should be able to get
the draw at worst.
However, Australia is unlikely to collapse on this track and a draw is
inevitable. Didn't see much of the first hour, but Jones and Crowe
survived it without too many alarms. It was only when Reiffel and
Warne were brought on that things started to happen. Warne had a
lengthy spell round the wicket bowling into the foot- marks. He was
teasing Jones and Crowe by inviting them to sweep against the spin.
This they were more than willing to do, but Warne had no
success. Incidently, to all the doubters, Warne *de- finitely bowled
at least one googly* today which he got to turn. Eventually, Crowe,
opening the face, chased a ball from Reiffel just outside off which
moved away off the seam. Sadly for Crowe, this was a TEST not a ODI
and Taylor was in at 1st slip. With the new ball just about due, this
was the best possible time for Aus- tralia to get Crowe. So it proved.
McDermott got Rutherford who played a poor shot outside the off stump,
playing well away from his body at an outswinger. McDermott's 200th
test wicket. Ruth- erford developed into a good player last year. It
is to be hoped (from an NZ point of view) that his progress is
maintained in this series. All this time, Jones went along in his
usual style. Footwork seemingly all over the place. Jumping in the
air. Punching his defensive shots to leg. Crashing the ball off
the back foot through the covers with monotonous regularity, par-
ticularly off McGrath and McDermott. Except, strangely enough, when
Mark Waugh came on for his second spell.
He played and missed his favourite shot three times in the first
over. In the second the inevitable happened and he edged one to Healy.
Whether it was the change of pace, Waugh's skill and variety, or just
tiredness, who knows. But Jones made 143, yet another "big" century,
and set the foundation for the whole innings. Mark Waugh, in many
respects, was the best bowler of the day and it wasn't just Jones who
had problems with his variety.
At this stage Border was rotating his bowlers well and both Waughs
were posing problems - Steve with his little outswingers. Patel looked
good as he always does and, just as typically, got out when set - yet
another gully victim, this time off Reiffel. Reiffel deserved the
wicket for his per- formance today, but not with that particular
delivery. That was it for Australia. Even a 55 minute break for rain
couldn't shift Cairns and Blain. To- wards the end of the day, Border
was bowling the two Macs into the ground when he might have used other
op- tions. Cairns was severe on the straight drive and the pull,
whilst Blain was more circumspect but just as effective. He scored
mainly with straight hits and with glides though the gully area. Their
partnership is now 98. It won't happen, but an early declaration
tomorrow would be interesting.
Day 4 Report
This was one of those days when nothing went right for one of the
teams. There was also a bit of controversy with the umpiring, but
McQuillan and Hare have generally performed well in this game. So much
so that they didn't rate a mention in the first three days. NZ felt
that Taylor was out plumb lbw to Morrison early on in the Australian
innings, but the real problem was a "catch" from Tay- lor off Patel
shortly afterwards.
NZ were sure he was out, er- roneously I thought, and there was a bit
of petulance from some- one who should have known better, and a
general pressuring of the umpire. Jones hurled the ball into the turf
in disgust. That may cost him. New Zealand also suffered two injuries
to bowlers, leaving them with a three man attack. NZ scored 29 runs
in 19.1 overs today for the loss of three wickets and a couple of
injuries. Blain and Cairns brought up their 100 stand (102 in all) but
everything else for NZ was bad news. Warne and McDermott did most of
the bowling today and Blain was first to go, lbw to McDermott. That
decision was a bit like Mark Waugh's in the Australian innings - he
might have got away with it in NZ, but he can have no real complaints.
Then Warne got his first wicket in the test.
This time he landed his top spinner right on the dot and beat Cairns
for pace off the pitch. Morrison and Su'a pottered around a bit
longer until McGrath, brought on at the end, got Morrison lbw with a
dipping full toss that hit him in line on the top of the pad. That
one was unques- tionably out. Watson came in but pulled his hamstring
when Su'a called him through for a quick single. They made it, but
that 419th run was a fateful one. Watson will probably not play again
on the tour. Unbelievable. This was cruel. With Watson's hamstring
and Cairns' bruised heel NZ was down to a three man attack. Morrison
bowled absolute- ly beautifully with no luck at all. He has lifted his
game to another level and must surely soon start to accumulate bags of
wickets. Away swing from close to the stumps is a classic formula for
success. He bowled particularly well to the right handed
Slater. Patel, who opened with him, bowled his best deliveries to the
left handed Taylor. Crowe dropped a catch at slip and then there was
the catch that wasn't (it was off Taylor's arm). After the first
hour, the openers settled in and began to score all round the
wicket.
A major problem for Crowe was that the other fit bowler, Murphy Su'a,
was not very accurate. This meant he had to give Morrison more overs
than he would have wished, and also had to resort to Pocock with his
slow mediums. Patel got Slater for 99, caught at the wicket down the
leg side off a ball that turned quite appreciably. Slater wasn't too
happy - this game can be horrible at times. Nevertheless, NZ needed
that wicket. When he went, the deluge of runs dried up just a
fraction, and Australia hasn't yet got past the 200 lead mark.
Prospects for tomorrow: After today, I'm loathe to predict any- thing
anymore. It should be a draw because Australia "won't" have enough
runs to risk a declaration too early on this track which has flattened
out totally. They'll probably pull out in the hope of giving NZ a
fright in the 4th innings to gain a psycho- logical advantage for the
next game.
Day 5 Report
Australia were able to skip along at 5 per over for 21 overs this
morning with Taylor getting a big not out ton. Didn't see the play,
but Patel bowled unchanged with Morrison and Su'a sharing the other
end. The declaration, before lunch, was a bold one leaving New
Zealand 303 to win. Australia had immediate success with Greatbatch
out to the first ball of the innings, caught down the leg side. The
ball swung in a fraction, but that is always an unlucky way to go.
Jones carried on where he left off in the first innings and had good
support from Pocock, although the latter did not play quite so well in
this 2nd knock. They were relatively untroubled until Warne came on
with Jones' "bete noir," Mark Waugh. Waugh troubled the batsmen again
in this innings and he picked up the wicket of Jones for the second
time in the match, this time lbw with Jones misreading the line just a
shade. He was caught on the crease to a ball that hit him on the line
of off stump. At 85, Pocock finally edged one to Healy. He played at
too many in this region today and eventually paid the penalty.
McGrath's delivery, stretching a point, may have moved away a little,
but the batsman failed to get his foot to the ball.
Nevertheless a good debut game. There were no further disasters for
New Zealand to tea, with Crowe and Rutherford prepared to hit the
occasional bad one through the field. Crowe's knee was signi- ficantly
worse today and was restricting not only his running but also his
footwork. Warne was pinning his faith in the footmarks outside the
right handers' leg stump and conducted a round the wicket attack. But
the batsmen just played him with their pads. After tea, Warne was not
required by Border until quite late in the piece and the only other
wicket to fall was that of Ruth- erford. He was adjudged lbw to Steve
Waugh, right on the front foot, after looking in very good touch
today. After that, Crowe and Patel just batted on until the game was
called off half an hour ear- ly. Both sides can claim credit from the
match. Australia fin- ished on top but conceded a 1st innings
lead. New Zealand's 1st innings lead was in some measure due to the
toss and the condi- tions on the first day. New Zealand had the worst
of the luck, but also one very bad day. The main thing was that both
sides were shown to be competitive. However, the New Zealand injuries
will weaken the side substantially - both batting and bowling.
It is rumoured that Richard de Groen (fast medium) and Chris
Harris (well known) will be joining the team with Crowe returning
home. Rutherford will take over as captain. This will weaken the
batting of course but will create specialist batting opportuni-
ties for nos 6-8 in the test side.
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