TCH MAY GIVE ENGLAND TROUBLE Sinclair’s Century One Of N.Z.’s Greatest

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31007, 12 March 1966, Page 13

TCH MAY GIVE ENGLAND TROUBLE Sinclair’s Century One Of N.Z.’s Greatest

(From R. T. Brittenden)

I AUCKLAND. One of the greatest test innings ever played by a New Zealander gave B. W. Sinclair an unbeaten century and New Zealand a score of 237 for six wickets on the first day of the final match with England at Eden Park yesterday.

In a magnificent display, marked by an excellence of nperament to match his fine technique, Sinclair reached three ures in just under three hours and was in absolute command nost from the moment he came in.

Even if he spent 40 minutes in the nineties, he never gave ■e appearance of being a man under pressure.

It was a flawless, chanceless century, ■his third in test matches. He batted with an authority which even ■his warmest admirers could hardly have exHpected of him.

■ t was a vehement pull for ■off D. A. Allen which took Ki from a worrying 99 to ■e triumph of 103—103 of ■e 136 from the bat while ■ was in. The figures niea■re the control Sinclair exited. I Adhesive Petrie ■There were other innings! ■ quality, from B. E. Cong-' H>n, who made 64, from the; ■bstitute opening batsman.; I W. Jarvis, with 39, and Bom the adhesive little E. C.l ■etrie. who contributed only 1 K. but saw 48 runs added i Kd Sinclair through to his I Bemorable century. I New Zealand’s total in six; ■ours batting may not seem; ■ great return, but in the first. ■wo hours only 58 runs were' ■cored- | There are fairly firm indilations that the pitch may ■ot last the full distance, and ■ New Zealand, with Sinclair ■till in. can bat on after lunch today, the runs made! ■nay be found, before all is! ■one. to carry a handsome ■onus. | Defensive Bowling I On this first day the pitch pffered the bowlers little more ■han sweat and tears, and the pnly delivery which behaved tiddly in 106 overs was one Ifrom Allen which jumped [very awkwardly from a length rand cost R. W. Morgan his picket. So there was a great deal; of defensive bowling, particularly from K. Higgs, and field placings designed to deny the'

batsmen runs and play on the well-known New Zealand characteristic of batsmen getting themselves out, through the passage of time. By and large, however. New Zealand this time fought through with admirable concentration.

Congdon, to be sure, looked at first as if he had no express wish to bat for very long, and he was dropped at 4 and 11. V. Pollard, on whom so much hope for the future rests, was all sense and sensibility in defending stoutly for 40 minutes, but then tried to hit Allen without quite having the proper conviction, and he was caught at deep

square leg from a hit which could and should have been made much harder. But Congdon, after his frail beginnings, batted most competently, and Jarvis, if slow in the confines of runs and minutes, struck the ball very firmly, was always aware of the need to look for singles, yet withstood all the pressures England could put on a player in his first big match for five weeks.

Batsman’s Pilch It was a lovely day for cricket—blue skies most of the time, a few high white clouds, and then was a crowd of about 3500 which paid £990 at the gate. The biscultbrown pitch was of pleasant pace, the ground a superb example. in construction and finish. of what Rugby football can achieve.

England’s bowlers were very soon aware of what they were up against. D. J. Brown, in one of his early overs, tried to bounce one at Jarvis: it went up all right, but fell very lazily, barely reaching J. M. Parks behind the wickets.

There was little movement in the air, nothing off the pitch, although Higgs, for whom admiration grows steadily, did run the ball away a shade now and then, and cut some back from the off. The day did not start well for New Zealand, with G. A. Bartlett having to drop out through injury. But Sinclair found himself allotted the same seat in the dressing room he had occupied when he made his first test century against South Africa two years ago.

And then he won the toss, which could be of paramount importance.

Cardiff Memories

So Jarvis went out to face Jones, the man who. at Cardiff, last June, inflicted on him a head wound which required 14 stitches. But Jarvis began, and went on for 163 minutes, with an absolute purity of stroke which was a delight. He was held in thrall by Higgs, who conceded but a single in his first seven overs, but there were firm drives, an occasional cut, and always there was the recognition that Jarvis was not merely content to stay in. He made only 30 by lunch, yet he looked a very good batsman. M. J. F. Shrimpton. however, was in all sorts of bother.

He has a habit, every ball, of thrusting his right foot across the off stump before delivery, and it is causing him to play his shots square on, and across the line. So it was little wonder that one which Brown angled from the width of the crease should bowl him, leg stump, through his legs. Congdon was fortunate that Jones failed to take an easy catch from a sweep off Allen, and that Parks missed a snick from Higgs.

There had been a brisk start to the innings, but Congdon and Jarvis were pegged down completely, and the thirty-third over was being bowled before the total reached 50. After lunch Congdon was a different man. He punched Knight through the covers off his back foot, and hit Allen for 6, to recall his great innings at Lord’s '.last year. Jarvis, all elegance, 'cover drove Allen for 4, but •with the score 99 he flicked at Jones and was caught behind.

If the partnership of 77 took 126 minutes, it removed

of its sting. Jones’s angle of flight worried Sinclair for an over or two but he went very soundly to 15, at which mark he became the third New Zealander to score 1000 runs in tests. The others, inevitably, are B. Sutcliffe and J. R. Reid.

Sinclair batted wonderfully well: it was a delight to see a New Zealand batsman look so confident, so sure. He was good enough to take runs off test bowling, and yet there had been fears that the burden of captaincy might affect Sinclair’s performance, for until very recently he was a dreadfully nervous starter, a batsman, who, alone, seemed unaware of his own great potential.

Busy Little Man

So with Congdon striking the ball better and Sinclair quite superb, the second 50 runs were scored in 64 minutes, and then the third in 61 minutes.

Sinclair was a very busy little man. He looked avidly for singles, he played magnificent strokes round the whole cricket compass. But at 142 he lost Congdon, -who played back to Higgs—an infraction of Eden Park’s basic batting principles—and was out leg before wicket after the pair had added 43 in 45 minutes. Ten minutes before tea Morgan had that wickedly lifting ball from Allen and was caught off a glove. So if 100 had been scored in two hours from 36 overs, the loss of three more wickets was a distinct reverse. After tea Sinclair batted like a little angel. He straight hit Knight for 4, cut him deftly for 2, on-drove for 4 —lO in the over. Pollard went at 189, having scored 2 of a partnership of 36 in 39 minutes.

Classic Century

Sinclair, in full cry, had Petrie with him when 200 and 87 overs brought the new ball. Sinclair regarded it with considerable disdain, and went into the nineties with a fierce hook for 4 off Brown. He took a long time to complete a classic century because he picked up the singles offering, and often lost the strike, rather than giving way to the pressure of events. Petrie again did a magnificent job. He made only 12 in a stand of 48—this one took 78 minutes—but he looked a durable cricketer. Sinclair has been there 195 minutes so far. He was much more intent on staying in than scoring in the final 15 minutes. A safe start for him today is essential if New Zealand is to prosper. England’s bowling was seldom expensive, but it looked rather ordinary. In conditions which gave it little colour, Brown looked a little tired, but Jones had a very good spell after lunch, when he flogged life from the reluctant turf.

Allen turned a few quite sharply but Knight offered few problems, and the main threat was always Higgs, who is as unrelenting as a thearical Sir Jasper, but he could not foreclose Sinclair’s mortgage.