Date-stamped : 13 Jan97 - 18:18
Pre-match - The Press

13 January 1997

First-Test 'Trial' For Both Teams

PALMERSTON NORTH -- The New Zealand Selection team to play
England in its first tour match -- a four-day affair -- was
finally confirmed last night after the Shell Cup cricket
semi-final in Christchurch.

Eight players had been named with the balance supposed to come
from the losing team in yesterday's match between Canterbury and
Northern Districts.

As it happened only one of the three named yesterday -- opener
Blair Pocock -- came from the Northern Districts team, which lost
the semi-final by seven wickets.

Two others, test certainty Bryan Young, and Mark Bailey, were
unavailable along with Central Districts fast-medium bowler
Andrew Penn.

So Otago batsman Matt Horne and Auckland seamer Chris Brown have
been called into the 12. Eight of the 12 are current or former
test players.

Pocock and Craig Spearman will be playing for one opening place
in the first test, captain Mark Greatbatch has a final chance
after a modest tour of Pakistan, and Justin Vaughan, who is an
incumbent test team member, could make sure of retaining his
position.

Senior fast-medium bowler Danny Morrison, coming back from
another groin injury, needs a solid workout to prove his fitness
to the selectors.

Morrison describes his appearance against England over the next
four days as his "D Day".

Test batsman Adam Parore will do the wicketkeeping, with chairman
of selectors Ross Dykes saying it was important he kept up his
skills in case of injury to test captain Lee Germon.

Meanwhile, England is looking at the match as a first-test trial,
in all but name, for both teams.

England has named its six specialist batsmen, including
all-rounder Craig White, who joined the tour yesterday, three
seam bowlers, and left-arm spinner Phil Tufnell.

The teams are: England: Mike Atherton (captain), Nick Knight,
Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, John Crawley, Craig
White, Dominic Cork, Andrew Caddick, Chris Silverwood, Phil
Tufnell.

New Zealand Selection (from): Mark Greatbatch (captain), Craig
Spearman, Blair Pocock, Adam Parore, Llorne Howell, Matt Horne,
Justin Vaughan, Mark Haslam, Paul Wiseman, Danny Morrison, Robert
Kennedy, Chris Brown. -- NZPA


Source :: The Christchurch Press (http://www.press.co.nz)

Day 1 Report From The Press


England in charge in tour opener


PALMERSTON NORTH -- England made a good start to its opening
first-class cricket tour match against a New Zealand Selection
in Palmerston North yesterday.

After winning the toss and choosing to field, England dismissed
the Selection XI for 138.

England was 106 for three in reply at stumps, with Alec Stewart
on 40 and Nasser Hussain yet to score.

Captain Mike Atherton's run drought on tour in Zimbabwe and New
Zealand continued when he was leg before wicket to fast-medium
bowler Robert Kennedy for seven in the sixth over of the
innings.

Fellow opener Nick Knight made a useful start to the New Zealand
leg of the tour by scoring a compact 46 from 82 balls, while
nightwatchman Andrew Caddick was dismissed just before stumps.

Only three batsmen got past 20 for the Selection XI, with opener
Craig Spearman topscoring with 41.


Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/)

Day 1 Report - Electronic Telegraph

Atherton woes cloud England's sunny day

By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Palmerston North

A SINGLE cloud drifted across an otherwise blue sky for England
on their first full day's cricket in New Zealand, but it was,
unfortunately, a fair bit larger than a man's hand. Mike
Atherton had done everything right in the first four hours,
having taken the decision to put a New Zealand Select XI in on a
true, albeit unexpectedly pacey pitch, taken a brilliant catch
in the gully and seen his fast bowlers rattle through the
opposition in 57 overs.

Craig White took four for 15, figures which flattered him
perhaps but which lend weight to the feeling that he is starting
to fulfil his all-round talent. Dominic Cork, Andrew Caddick and
Chris Silverwood also responded well to the healthy competition
for bowling places in the Auckland Test and the fielding was
reassuringly slick in support as a side with eight Test players
were bowled out for 138. Not many of them will play in Auckland
but Danny Morrison, who bowled a good, full length and swung the
ball at a lively pace, certainly will if he manages to prove his
fitness here.

Had Atherton then been out for seven to an unplayable ball
after, say, 45 minutes at the crease, it might not have been too
significant, even for a man who has now scored only 107 runs in
nine first-class innings on this two-pronged tour at an average
of 11. It was, however, the way he batted more than the score he
made which made one at least question whether, this time, he is
going to weather the storm.

His was a desperately scratchy little innings during which all
his runs came off the edge and every ball seemed potentially his
last. Morrison, who almost had him caught off the splice in the
first over, and Robert Kennedy, his whippy, open-chested opening
partner, made him look no better. Nothing had come off the
middle when, in the sixth over, he went back and across to a
ball which nipped back off the seam and had him all too clearly
leg before.

Atherton has three innings, weather permitting, to try to get
the head and feet moving into the right line again. If he played
in Auckland and failed again he would simply have to take
seriously the proposition that he should drop himself. The
suspicion lingers, though he refuses to make it an excuse, that
his sore back is restricting his movement, but even two hours at
the crease would no doubt do wonders for him.

He will not get any better pitches on which to bat than this
one. Alec Stewart reckoned it a couple of yards faster than
anything the team had encountered in Zimbabwe.

The contrast yesterday between the captain and Stewart, who took
a brisk single from a confident forward push first ball and
played thoroughly well thereafter, was stark. Yet this time last
year Stewart was the batsman whose feet would not move in the
right direction and who was wandering whether he would ever
recover form again.

Since forcing his way back into the England team after the first
Test of last season he has batted more or less superbly and here
even his forward defensive strokes were rifling between the
bowler and mid-off for twos and threes.

Nick Knight shared attractively with him in a stand of 76 for
the second wicket, cutting particularly well, before for the
third time in recent innings the left-hander was caught behind
from a thin leg glance. There would be far more cause for
concern if he were being caught on the other side of the wicket.

Caddick was given a chance as nightwatchman in front of his
parents but Morrison soon found his outside edge. As a bowler
Caddick has not yet done enough to push to the front of what
looks like being a four-man race for the last bowling place in
the first Test, but he produced one or two unplayable deliveries
as he and Dominic Cork shared the new ball on a fresh morning.

Cork swung it away late at first but bowled too wide of the off
stump as he tired and Blair Pocock and Craig Spearman were
starting to settle when Caddick got a ball to lift and leave
Pocock, giving Graham Thorpe the first of two chest-high catches
at first slip.

Adam Parore cut savagely two overs later, only for Atherton to
cling on to a remarkable right-handed catch and before lunch
Spearman, having played some neat strokes, tried to square-drive
White's first ball and dragged it on.

Thereafter it was plain sailing for England on a lovely ground
which might have been Blairgowrie, so Scottish was the look of
the green hills of the Tararua Range beyond a variety of trees.
The pavilion, accompanied by a row of tall Phoenix palms, is the
one building of any size and there is not an advertising board
in sight: this was how county cricket grounds once looked.

Cork picked up his two wickets in five balls, from a top-edged
hook and a lofted drive to mid-off, which Caddick caught
instinctively. There was, too, a brilliant bit of combination
work by Knight and Nasser Hussain. Running back from the slips
together, Hussain flipped the ball back and Knight's throw ran
out Mark Haslam as he came back for the second run.

Above all, however, the early afternoon belonged to the two
Yorkshiremen. White bowls with greater variety these days,
something he has worked hard to achieve, and Silverwood, strong
around the chest, is an improving bowler.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

Day 2 report From The Press

Steadfast Stewart delivers as usual


PALMERSTON NORTH -- For senior England cricketer Alec Stewart it
was more of the same, albeit in a different country.

As heavy rain shortened proceedings to just 14.3 overs, England
moved from its overnight 106 for three to 154 for three on the
second day of its four-day tour match against the New Zealand
Selection XI in Palmerston North. The Selection XI made 138
yesterday.

When play finished for the day just under an hour after the
start of play, Stewart had moved from 40 not out to 75 not out,
with vice captain Nasser Hussain on 11.

Stewart did not put a foot wrong yesterday as he carried on from
where he left off in 1996.

He hit the most test runs by any cricketer in the calendar year,
793, and that was after being dropped for the first home test of
the last English season against India.

When he was recalled he made it count, passing 50 in every test
for the remainder of the year.

After scoring 13 and seven in the final test in South Africa at
the start of the year, Stewart's record went 20 and 66, 50
(against India), 39 and 89, 170, 44 and 54 (against Pakistan),
48 and 73, 19 and 101 not out (against Zimbabwe).

In all innings in Zimbabwe en route to New Zealand, Stewart
scored 525 runs at an average 43.75, including two centuries.

"I played well enough in Zimbabwe and it would be nice to try
and carry it on here," the 33-year-old Stewart said.

"I was here in 1992 and enjoyed batting on the wickets then so
it would be good to repeat that in 1997."

In the 1992 series, immediately before the World Cup, Stewart
hit two of his nine test centuries, 148 and 107 at Christchurch
and Wellington. He ended the series with 330 runs at an average
of 66.

Stewart was at a loss to explain why, after a modest tour of
South Africa at the end of 1995, he suddenly became the world's
most prolific test runmaker.

"Last (English) winter in South Africa I didn't play as well as
I can do and got left out. Then I came back and played as I am
capable of playing.

"You know when you're playing well and when you're not.
Everything was going well, that was the thing. I couldn't put my
finger on it."

He did spend time practising to iron out faults, and he
acknowledged that conditions in New Zealand would be more to his
liking than the slow, spongy Zimbabwean pitches before
Christmas.

"We've had two very good wickets (in New Zealand). They're just
a little bit quicker, and the bounce is a little bit steeper.

"Zimbabwe was like a tennis ball bounce, and there were very
slow outfields.

"This (Fitzherbert Park) is a very good cricket wicket. There's
a little in it for the bowlers but once you're in you can get
runs."

In what play was possible yesterday, England scored 48 runs and
while Hussain had some shaky moments, Stewart appeared in
complete control.

Fast bowler Danny Morrison twice dropped the ball short and
twice it disappeared to the square leg fence.

Medium pacer Justin Vaughan was clipped away for boundaries off
consecutive balls as his three overs yesterday went for 20.

The decision to abandon play for the day was made shortly after
1pm. But the weather has not necessarily ruled out a positive
result with two full days play still remaining.

Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/)

Day 2 report- Electronic Telegraph


Rain interrupts Stewart at his commanding best

By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Palmerston North


PLUVIUS ca change, one might say. Rain pursued the England team
round Zimbabwe, washed out half of the opening fixture in New
Zealand and delayed the start of the four-day match in
Palmertson North against a New Zealand Select X1.

It returned after a mere 14 overs and three balls of the second
morning and the thunderstorm, which broke over Fitzherbert Park
like a parting gift from Africa, interrupted England in general,
and Alec Stewart in particular, as they were moving into a
position of complete command.

A ground which rapidly became waterlogged gave the umpires
little option but to abandon play for the day.

So England were left with a decision about whether to press on
quickly on the third day to add to a lead of 15 with seven
wickets in hand, or, much less likely, to declare.

Batsmen need as much practice as bowlers in New Zealand
conditions, so the obvious course was to try to win the match in
the conventional manner.

Stewart watchers know that there are three modes to his batting
- the circumspect, the breezy and the near-perfect. There is no
question that his present form comes into the third category.

The ball to hit is being carefully judged, he is moving his feet
decisively and naturally and his striking is clean and
deliberate. Effortless is not quite the word: if Mark Waugh is
the Fred Couples of contemporary cricket and Brian Lara the Greg
Norman, Stewart at his best is like Nick Faldo - a man in cool
control of himself, the situation and the bowling.

Hearing him talk about the manner in which he dragged himself
out of his bad patch last winter, the thought occurred that,
apart from his occasional tendency to want to control the
umpires as well, this is now a mature, secure and contented
professional cricketer, who would probably take the unyielding
pressure of leading England in his stride.

Although he was five years older than Michael Atherton when
Graham Gooch resigned the captaincy in 1993, Stewart was
considered a little too inclined to hot-headedness.

Now 33, having been through the mill as Surrey captain, emerging
with great credit, he could easily captain England in Atherton's
stead against Australia next season unless Atherton, as everyone
hopes, rediscovers his form in time.

Thereby, whoever chairs the selectors next season - David
Graveney, Graham Gooch, John Barclay or any other candidate as
yet un-nominated - would buy some time before making a
commitment to one of the longer-term possibilities, Nasser
Hussain, Nick Knight or John Crawley.

This, however, is probably to under-estimate Atherton's
resilience. If he follows the Stewart path back to form, all he
needs is a bowling machine and a coach who knows his game well.

He has the coach in David Lloyd, there are plenty of bowling
machines in New Zealand and he is every bit as determined as
Stewart, whose recovery last season after averaging only 29
against South Africa's formidable fast-bowling was trig- gered
by sessions against the machine in the indoor nets under the
eyes of his father and Geoff Arnold, the former Surrey coach.

He reached his fifty yester- day with successive fours, a
straight drive and a dismissive pull, off Dr Justin Vaughan, the
bowler who had given him most cause for concern on the first
evening.

Vaughan, the former Gloucestershire all-rounder, batted solidly
on Monday and bowled some tricky balls yesterday at briskish
medium, emphasising his right to retain the place, which he had
in New Zealand's team on their tours of the West Indies and
Pakistan. There was time for two wonderfully crisp hooks by
Stewart off Danny Morrison before the rain.

Hussain was content to glide in the slipstream, although he
escaped an edge just in front of second-slip off Vaughan before
he had scored.

Palmerston North, where the authorities were pleased with a
crowd of 500, provided a peaceful contrast to the final of New
Zealand's knockout cup in Wellington yesterday.

That is a competition, in which noisy crowd participation is
encouraged, so much so that in an earlier cup match at the Basin
Reserve ground, on Jan 3, Nick Scott, the man in charge of
'entertainment', paid a male stripper to streak across the
ground, clad only in box and pads. He was 'arrested' by a
policewoman, also a paid entertainer, in a hired outfit.

The genuine commander of police in Wellington, Gerry Cunneen,
commented when these facts came to light yesterday: "We do not
condone that sort of conduct. That's trespass on the ground,
which amounts to offensive behaviour."

According to Mr Scott, it was all part of the "entertainment
package." What next, I wonder: streaking sky-divers?

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

Day 3 Electronic Telegraph

Hussain ensures England settle in

WHETHER or not England complete a win against the New Zealand
Select XI today, they have dominated their opening first-class
match here in a manner beyond them in Zimbabwe, writes
Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

Fresher weather, a good pitch and the feeling a new tour has
started in an environment which the players enjoy are all
reasons for the change of fortune and so, to an extent, is the
extra sharpness which Dominic Cork's return gives to the
bowling.

In one respect there has been continuity between Bulawayo,
Harare and Palmerston North: the England batsmen in form are
Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain, John Crawley and Nick Knight; Mike
Atherton and Graham Thorpe are struggling.

The loss of most of the second day and centuries by Stewart and
Hussain yesterday means that neither of the latter two is likely
to get a second chance in this match to bat for any length of
time. Having declared 289 ahead and taken a wicket with the new
ball in the 55 minutes which they gave themselves in the field,
England had every reason to hope for what would be only their
second first-class win of the winter.

As Hussain said after accelerating from a sticky start to reach
his 31st first-class hundred: "We are more confident on wickets
like these. They suit our seam bowlers and stroke-playing
batsmen."

The snag may be that the Test pitches will not have the pace of
this one, which has made for good, lively cricket, and the
chance of a result despite the loss of six and three quarter
hours of play on the first three days.

England are not alone in enjoying the conditions. Danny Morrison
was happy to have a surface springy and hard enough for the ball
to hit the wicketkeeper's gloves hard, and he confirmed his
fitness for the first Test.

If he was flattered by picking up a couple of easy wickets as
England pressed for quick runs after tea, he had been the only
bowler to give Stewart and Hussain any seriously awkward moments
as they extended their partnership to 205 at a little over a run
a minute.

Morrison has had a recent groin operation and missed the tour to
Pakistan, where Simon Doull did well enough in his stead to be
certain of inclusion in New Zealand's side: the team for the
Auckland Test is named this evening. No doubt the selectors
would prefer Doull not to play for Northern Districts against
England at the weekend but part of the problem for the Kiwis is
a programme based upon an extended limited-overs competition
during the Christmas holidays. They may be less well prepared
than the touring side.

There was never much doubt England would compile a big score
yesterday. There was nothing in the pitch for two inexperienced
spinners, except the modicum of rough which Phil Tufnell was
hoping to utilise today, and once Hussain had got over a sticky
start against Morrison and Justin Vaughan the momentum seldom
faltered.

Most of this was due to Stewart. He added 78 runs to the 75 he
had already scored before retiring an hour after lunch, having
hit 20 fours and two sixes, feigning a hamstring injury which
had miraculously recovered by the time England took the field.

Hussain's share of their first 100 runs together was only 23 but
he has learned to graft and bide his time and his early caution
was justified by an afternoon of splendid batting in which he
drove and pulled with as much authority as Stewart.

Hussain, 98 not out at lunch, scored his 100 from 210 balls, 42
more than Stewart had needed for his, although the disparity
seemed greater. His eventual boundary count was 19, most of them
pulled square or thumped off either back or front foot to the
short arc between backward point and extra cover.

There was no time for Crawley to make a century too, comfortably
though he batted after Thorpe had miscued a pull off Robert
Kennedy. Like Morrison, the tall, open-chested Kennedy bowled
willingly at a lively pace but paid for being too fond of the
short ball.

It was the tidy off-spinner Paul Wiseman who shared with
Morrison in the relatively easy pickings after tea as Hussain
sliced a drive to cover, White clipped to short mid-on, Crawley
spliced a hook and Silverwood edged a drive to second slip.

This was the prelude to an all-out attack with the ball at the
end of the day, during which Cork was given the advantage of the
wind and was rewarded for pitching up his outswinger by
dismissing Craig Spearman as he thick-edged a drive to Atherton
in the gully. Atherton duly had a session against a rather
antiquated bowling machine earlier in the day and felt happier
about his form.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

Day 4 report - Electronic Telegraph

Relief as England turn corner

Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Palmerston North sees tourists'
first victory in five weeks and seven games


IT IS a little fanciful to suggest that January 16, 1997 at
Palmerston North might mark a sort of Waterloo of English
cricket, appropriate though that might be since it is Lord
Palmerston, the architect of much of Queen Victoria's foreign
policy, after whom this pleasant town was named.

At the least, however, the defeat of a theoretically strong New
Zealand Select XI here by an innings and 113 runs should prove
to have been a genuine watershed on this tour, the game which
got the show back on the road.

It was England's first win for five weeks and seven games and it
puts the unhappy memories of one-day defeats in Zimbabwe, and
all the calumny which accompanied them, firmly to the back of
the mind - for a while at least. To add to the satisfactory
bowling performance in the first innings and, all-important, the
proper application of the latent quality in the top-order
batting, the bowlers and fielders truly produced some
outstanding cricket.

David Lloyd believed it their best bowling performance since he
became coach and added, pointedly but pertinently, that
"everything" in New Zealand is more conducive to England giving
a decent account of themselves than it was in Zim- babwe:
"Pitches, facilities, people, food and climate."

Chris Silverwood's was the most significant bowling effort
yesterday, Phil Tufnell's the match-winning performance. He used
the rough at the Tararua Mountains end to earn his second
five-wicket analysis of the tour. There will be no temptation
for this touring party to repeat the errors of previous ones in
leaving a spinner out but whether room is found in the Test side
for both Tufnell and Robert Croft, who will have his chance to
claim precedence again in the four-day match against Northern
Districts starting in Hamilton tomorrow, will depend on the Eden
Park surface.

New Zealand's Test 12 have an altogether stronger look than the
side assembled here with a view partly to giving players like
Adam Parore and Danny Morrison much needed practice, and partly
to sorting out some fringe selections. Nevertheless England feel
they have an attack which can handle both green pitches and dry
ones and there was a visible lift of morale and confidence as
victory was wrapped up by the middle of the third afternoon.

There was an anxious eye or two on the clouds which hung high
over Fitzherbert Park on a fresh morning, because to have been
denied a deserved win by the weather would have been unjust. The
winning habit is important, as would no doubt have been proved
had England managed to score one more run in the Bulawayo Test.

There was no reason for concern, however. Silverwood and Andrew
Caddick opened the bowling - there is little doubt that Dominic
Cork will play at Auckland barring a really bad match in
Hamilton - and though Caddick was given the advantage of the
stiff breeze, it was the 21-year-old Yorkshireman who produced
the necessary blend of hostility and accuracy. In each of his
spells in this game Silverwood has looked rhythmic, confident,
purposeful and strong. He is improving as quickly as Caddick has
appeared to go backwards since the start of his shin injury
problems. If there is a word for what Silverwood has at present,
and Caddick has not, it is spark.

In his third over of the day Silverwood got a ball to bounce and
leave Parore, Alec Stewart seizing the outside edge low to his
left. The 16 overs which followed, in which Blair Pocock batted
soundly and the stocky Matthew Horne survived some close shaves
against Tufnell, was the longest England had to wait for a
wicket all day.

Horne's departure, caught after a series of juggles by Nick
Knight at silly point as he aimed to clip through midwicket
against the spin, was the prelude to a rapid collapse before
lunch which left no doubt about the outcome. The most vivid
piece of cricket involved Mark Greatbatch. Coming in at five in
an endeavour to keep his long Test career going, he immediately
thumped Tufnell over midwicket for six with a vigorous and
controlled pull-drive, then drove him sweetly though extra
cover.

He barely had time to chew the cud before Pocock pushed a ball
from Silverwood into the offside and called him for a sharp
single. Who should come scampering in from extra cover to swoop
and throw down the stumps but a little thin-legged fellow with a
moustache by the name of Jack Russell. As Greatbatch departed in
amazement, this "terrific professional", as a delighted Lloyd
called him, threw himself into the arms of most of his
team-mates, overjoyed to have been a visible part of the team
even in yet another game in which he was not officially playing.

Russell will not play against Northern Districts, returning
instead to play for his former Auckland club, Takapuna, on
Saturday. They will be happy to have him as wicketkeeper,
batsman or just perhaps as specialist impersonator of Jonty
Rhodes. The pride of all Gloucestershire was on the field only
as substitute for Craig White, who has "flu-like" symptoms.

Having batted solidly in the first innings, Justin Vaughan, a
makeshift Test opener in Pakistan six weeks ago, was no match
for Silverwood this time, edging him to second slip, where
Knight made a difficult catch to his left look as easy as
flopping onto a feather mattress. Thereafter it was a case of
Tufnell harrying and teasing at tail- end batsmen with little
idea against a spinner of his ability.

Danny Morrison and Robert Kennedy had the best method, one of
uncompromising attack. It worked for Morrison until Stewart
followed a deft catch off bat and pad earlier with a brilliantly
quick stumping as Morrison bottom-edged a drive into his gloves.

England's opponents here did not play like a side containing
eight men with Test experience. Five of them were named last
night in the New Zealand 12 for the first Test starting in
Auckland a week today. The team, in expected batting order, will
be chosen from Young, Pocock, Parore, Fleming, Astle, Cairns,
Germon (capt), Vaughan, Patel, Doull, Morrison and Haslam.


Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

<END> Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)