Late sport 'Reasonable chance' for N.Z. cricket pair

Press, 20 April 1979, Page 4

Late sport 'Reasonable chance' for N.Z. cricket pair

NZPA London New Zealand test cricketers, Richard Hadlee and Geoff Howarth, make their English debut for the season in the unlikely setting of Wembley Stadium today. They join topliners from the five other major cricketing countries in the second annual world double wicket championship—a far remove from the three-day county matches Hadlee and Howarth are now practising for. “Like everyone else, I suppose we’ve got a reasonable show,” said Howarth yesterday. “It’s one of those competitions you can win if the luck goes your way.” New Zealand’s team in the inaugural series last year, Mark Burgess and Hadlee, finished third, and Howarth is hoping Hadlee’s experience at the novel form of the

game will put them ahead of opponents like Australia’s Rodney Hogg and Peter Toohey, England’s lan Botham and Derek Randall, and the Pakistanis Zaheer Abbas and Asito Iqbal. “I’ve never played the thing before but fortunately we can have a practice today to get a bit of an idea,” Howarth said. “But I'll certainly be relying on Richard.” Both the New Zealanders are in England for the county series which starts in a fortnight. Howarth back with Surrey, and Hadlee with Nottinghamshire. Two players specially flown to London for today’s championship, Hogg and Toohey, are attracting the most interest. It is the first appearance in England for Hogg, who took a record 41 wickets in the Ashes series against England last season.