Date-stamped : 04 Nov93 - 13:42 New Zealand v Tasmania, Tour Match Hobart, 4-7 Nov 93 D1 Match Report New Zealand gained an important pyschological advantage for the coming cricket Tests when they dismissed key Australian bats- man David Boon for two in their first encounter on Thursday. Boon, fresh from his triumphant tour of England, lasted just 10 minutes and 10 balls for Tasmania on the opening day of the match. He pushed forward to Chris Cairns and was comfortably caught by Bryan Young at wide third slip, ruining the day for those who had come to see Boon make a rare appearance at home. The Tasmanians were left rudderless without a significant con- tribution from their captain and dawdled to 207 for six by the close. Rod Tucker contributed 36 while Shaun Young and Mark At- kinson ensured respectability with an unbroken stand of 74 for the seventh wicket. Young finished the day on 47 with Atkinson at the other end on 29. Boon said before the game his lack of four-day cricket did not concern him on the eve of next week's first Test match in Perth. The 32-year-old said one decent innings would get him ready but Thursday's venture to the crease hardly made it a worthwhile trip to Tasmania for newly appointed Test selector Steve Bernard. Boon appeared fortunate to even make two, surviving an extremely confident lbw appeal against Cairns before he had scored. Cairns finished with 3-63 from 21 overs and only blighted his figures by sending down nine no-balls. Rising Tasmanian talents Dene Hills and Ricky Ponting both made starts with 27 and 15 respectively but neither could summon the concentration to play a long innings. Tucker drove Watson straight into the hands of Danny Morrison at mid-off and Tasmania was in dire straits at 133 for six at that stage. Young and Atkinson frustrated the New Zealanders with their stand that dug the Tasmanians out of trou- ble, but made for drab cricket during the final session. Thanks to vasa on r.s.c. Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> MORE D4 Match Report "Crowe discovers luck and form in Tasmania" (Canberra Times, Mon 8 Nov 93) Launceston: Australian cricket will have an anxious month to wait before it discovers how much damage was caused by a generous Tasmanian side yesterday. On the eve of the first test in Perth later this week, New Zea- land captain Martin Crowe played his way back into form with 105 after the normally reliable Danny Buckingham dropped chances at 17 and 46. Crowe had not passed 20 in any of his seven previous knocks on tour but will now start confidently for the first match of the three-Test series on Friday. He batted for 145 minutes to provide the lion's share of New Zealand's 7-247 on the last day, earning the visitors a draw after Tasmanian captain David Boon set a target of 299 for victo- ry. Andrew Jones backed his captain with 60 in a stand of 159 for the third wicket and only the loss of three wickets in the final hour ensured Tasmania from crashing to an unexpected defeat. Crowe came to the wicket at 2-29 and was a relieved man at stumps, having hit nine boudaries in all and unveiling most of his shots on a difficult slowish wicket. "I only had a bit of luck and I guess I have to thank Danny Buck- ingham for the hundred." Crowe said. "I took a few risks but I've always gone out to attack and entertain because that's the way I like to play my cricket." "Even if I had got out for 17, I still would have felt good for the Test series because this wicket was no bearing on what we'll face in Perth," he said, referring to the bouncy nature of the WACA wicket. Crowe began in scratchy fashion when he came to the crease at 2- 29 and Buckingham's crucial first miss went to ground with the total at 2-50. Medium-pacer Shaun Young had been slanting the ball into Crowe's pads and the New Zealand captain drove the ball in the air as he attempted to force it through mid-wicket. Buckingham got both hands to the ball but could not hold the chance, giving Crowe a much needed reprieve. Off-spinner Steve Herzberg was milked for runs almost at will and Crowe's driving gradually became more fluent against the quicker bowlers. For the second chance, Buckingham could not hold a difficult skier when Crowe was 46, getting under a mis-cued clip from Herzberg that sailed into the air and swirled as Buckingham made ground from mid-wicket. Crowe reached 50 in 71 minutes and his 64th first-class century an hour later. He spiced his stay with nine boudaries. On grounding up his 100 with a square cut for four from Chris Matthews, Crowe made a point of saluting the press box at one end of the ground, replying to critics in his home country who had slated his start to the tour. At the other end Jones played the support role for 67 in a 159 run stand for the third wicket. Crowe finally swung across the line at Rod Tucker and was bowled for 105 and Jones holed out to cover for 67, denying New Zealand a second consecutive victory against the states after beating NSW in its last outing. Matthews, Herzberg and Troy Cooley all finished with two wickets each and one question to be answered for New Zealand before the Test is whether Chris Cairns or Dipak Patel will slot into the No. 6 spot. Contributed by gaurav (cwis4@*canberra.edu.au)