Date-stamped : 12 Dec93 - 08:57 The Guardian 7 May 1993 Life is bliss for Hick second time around Tour match: Worcestershire v Australians There was another large crowd here yesterday and they witnessed a weird but enjoyable day's cricket. But, most importantly, the feeding arrangements seemed to work better than on Wednesday. It must have been the first occasion when the varieties of cake in the Ladies' Pavilion (41) came quite so close to the home team's first-innings total (90). Worcestershire did dramatically better in the second innings, however, and by the close they were 311 for three. What was most significant was that 161 of these runs came from Graeme Hick. There is a perception now that England's five successive Test match defeats might not necessarily be the best guide to their chances of winning the Ashes this summer. At the bookmakers the odds against England have come down from 52 to 74. If anything should happen to either of Australia's main bowlers Craig McDer- mott and Merv Hughes, then this touring team might find them- selves badly exposed. They are supposed to have a match-winning leg-spinner in Shane Warne. Yesterday Hick squared up to him. In the popular imagination leg-spinners are slight figures: cerebral, cunning, whimsical. Warne is a blond, stocky Aussie who gives the impression of having just come in for a few stubbies after an afternoon strangling sharks. After his second over he was a good deal slighter. Hick smashed 19 runs off the over, including a six on to the roof behind long-on, and went on hitting him hard all afternoon: Warne suf- fered 12 of Hick's 24 fours. Hick was brutal on everyone else, too. The innings was compel- ling, above all, for its power and confidence. It was his 69th first-class century, completed on the fifth anniversary of his 405 at Taunton, and he has power to add to it today. It seems almost churlish to mention that he was out for five in the morning, that he should have been caught by Healy on 17 and that he might have been caught at square-leg on 33 and long-off on 141. Between lunch and tea no wicket fell. Hick and Curtis were com- piling a second-wicket stand eventually worth 168. Before lunch there were 10 wickets - Worcestershire collapsing from their overnight 14 for one to 90 and losing Weston, twice in the ses- sion, second time round as well when the Australians enforced the follow-on. Their seamers took three first-innings wickets each and all jagged the ball about. The pitch was never trustworthy but the problems were mostly caused by swing rather than movement off the seam and those on the field were inclined to credit the ball rather than the bowlers. The Australians are trying out two different types of ball before the Test series and this one has a far more prominent seam than has been the norm in recent years. Of the three bowlers competing for one Test place, Wayne Holds- worth looked the liveliest, Paul Reiffel was the nearest to an English-style medium-pacer and the left-armer Brendon Julian swung it the most. It has already been noted that Andrew Caddick of Somerset, probably England's next Test cap, is the dead spit of Richard Hadlee when he bowls. Julian bears a definite resemblance to Wasim Akram. Like pop musicians, cricketers seem to have run out of inspiration and are concentrating on recycling old favourites. The second innings, though, proved that the resemblance was not total. The main difference was that Hick and, indeed, the normal- ly dour Curtis never allowed the Australians to get into a rhythm. And as they tired, all the zip, all the Aussie-ness, if you like, went out of their cricket. They looked weary travellers as they trudged off last night. Australians are natural optimists, however, and some remembered that Martin Crowe had hit Warne all over New Zealand at the start of the recent tour there - just be- fore Warne bowled brilliantly in the Tests. The Guardian 8 May 1993 Boon enjoys the thrill of the chase MATTHEW ENGEL AT NEW ROAD Tour match: Worcestershire v Australians IT WAS one of those curious May days that manage to be cold and warm simultaneously. Some optimists among another large crowd took off their shirts and sunned themselves; the pessimists kept several layers on and shivered. It was notable that the England manager Keith Fletcher was watching by the sightscreen in a top- coat. Tim Curtis, the Worcestershire captain, permitted himself a mo- ment of optimism and declared, setting the Australians 287 to win in 55 overs, just the sort of target they might face in the one- day internationals a fortnight hence. They got the runs with five wickets in hand, off the last ball but one when Steve Waugh hit Richard Illingworth for six. They had looked like certain winners but the two main batsmen both got out at the wrong moment just short of victory. David Boon had scored his second century of the match and Matthew Hay- den had made 96, taking his total in four innings on the tour to 372. It was close to not being enough. Phil Newport bowled the penultimate over for only two runs and they needed 12 off the last. There were thus 436 runs in the day, which was extraordinary after Worcestershire's initial 90 all out on a wicket not re- nowned for getting easier. Between lunch on Thursday and just short of the finish only four wickets fell for 689. People look for technical explanations of these matters but the simple answer may be that the batsmen of both sides totally outplayed the bowlers. The day began with the greatest exemplar of that, Graeme Hick, continuing his demolition job of the leg-spinner Shane Warne. He hit four sixes off Warne's first two overs of the day, before he was lbw having a big swipe at the other end. Hick made 187, of which 96 came off 77 balls from Warne. They say Warne does not bother to bowl his googly until the Tests; much more of this and he will have to be pretty self-confident not to be a gibbering wreck by then. The next few hours were taken up by the less glamorous figures of Seymour and Lampitt, but they never looked like getting out either. And after Curtis declared, the pattern continued with roles reversed. Taylor, the acting captain, smashed a quick 40, then Hayden and Boon took control. At one time Illingworth and Hick, a combination which might con- ceivably constitute England's spin attack in the one-dayers, were bowling together. Boon hit Hick for a six that was aimed straight at Fletcher's perch. So much for this deadly ball they were supposed to be using. For what it is worth, the Australians have not won at Worcester and gone on to win the Ashes since 1948. But funny things are happening, now there are no Conservative councillors left to de- fend the status quo. Someone dropped a glass from one of the cor- porate boxes yesterday, just missing an ordinary spectator's head. In these circumstances cricket clubs generally give the impres- sion that they expect the groundlings to apologise for getting their heads in the wrong place. But a fearless, bearded orator rose and pointed skywards. old hooligans.'' He got the biggest applause of the day. The players looked utterly baffled. Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)