Border seeks brief respite

Press, 11 February 1986, Page 40

Border seeks brief respite

NZPA-AAP Sydney The Australian cricket captain, Allan Border, is seeking a brief, well earned respite from the stress of top competition after his team won the World Series Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. The Australian Cricket Board is under pressure to take a soft approach to Border’s request to stand down from the tour of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates after returning from New Zealand in April. “I am not keen on going,” is as much as Border will say publicly. He doesn’t want to put officialdom in a corner and is probably unaware of his tremendous standing and strength on the Australian scene and the sympathy he has in the

cricketing world. Border’s prestige has never been higher as the coffers of the A.C.B. will prove at cash count time after record crowds, particularly in Melbourne,

during the W.S.C. series. A pragmatist such as the selector, Greg Chappell, with all his experience of cricketers, is likely to advise his fellow panelists to give a little with regard to Border’s request. The Australians, led by Border, start 'a 47-day tour of New Zealand from Thursday after almost 17 months of constant cricket for the Australian captain. The Australian squad is: Allan Border (captain), Ray Bright (vice-captain), David Boon, Simon Davis, David Gilbert, Craig McDermott, Geoff Marsh, Greg Matthews, Wayne Phillips, Bruce Reid, Greg Ritchie, Steve Waugh, Tim Zoehrer. If Border is given a ticket of leave then Ray Bright is likely to lead much the same squad in

Sharjah. The vacancy will give the selectors an opportunity of sending Dean Jones to the U.A.E. to gain further experience. Wayne Phillips has yet

to pass a further medical on his damaged ring-fin-ger of the right hand. If Phillips is unavailable for New Zealand in a decision which will have to be taken within the next 24 hours then the Australian selectors have a choice of three in-form batsmen. The opener, Graeme Wood, a test reject, has hit 547 runs this Sheffield Shield season for Western Australia against New South Wales and Tasmania. Dirk Wellham has shown that once again he is Australian material whilst Jones’s late arrival on the scene again has been with all the aggression and potential he showed on debut. Shortly after the return from the Tasman Cup three-test battle and four

one-day internationals plus three minor clashes the Australians are scheduled for a 15-day four-nation tournament in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.