The Test Drawn

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 181, 18 August 1937, Page 6

The Test Drawn

tbo Sptcial Correepondent oi tbe XJnited Preu Association with the Team.)

N.Z. BACKS TO WALL Moloney Savesthe Side from Defeat . ? EARLY BATSMEN CRASH

(From

(Received 18. 9.55 a.m.) , LONDON, Aug. 17. The New Zealand cricketers had to fight hard to avoid defeat by England in the last Test. They were saved hy Moloney, who reached his fottr figures ia first-class matches, Tindilil and Dunning. All three played xesolutely at a critical * period. Page was unable to field, as he fiad strained his stomach muscles. The wieket favoured the howlers most of the day, and runTnairiTig was difficult xill the pitch dried after tea. New Zealand again "bowled well and fielded enthusiastically. TJncertainty ainong the early fcatsmen. was again a pronounced weakness. Although a draw wns practically •ertain from the start, tho attendance was about 5000. Following rain, the wieket was taking a spin. After Cowie had howied seven overs for nine runs fhe attaek was entrusted to Dunning, howling off-spinners round the wieket with a leg trap, and Vivian, bowling elow left-hand breaks. Compton and Hardstaff, although occasionally uncomfortable, scored steadily. They patted the soft spots on the pitch after almost every ball. "When Page retired CaTson fielded and' Vivian took the captaincy. Gompton was dismissed in an nnusual manner. Hardstaff .drove one straight back and Vivian, in attempting to stop it, de-' flected the ball on to the stumps. Compton wae out of his ground and was given out. Catchee just Ottt of Reach. Hardstaff and Compton added 125. They had znany adventures. Roberts wnd "Weir nearly made catches aboht leg off Dunning. A mishit off the same bowler went over the head of the yricketkeeper and fell just out of reach of Eoberts at first slip. Hardstaff was enterprising and attractive and 'scored quiekly. He liit 16 foure in his third century against the present team. Hammond also was vigorous. Tantalising luck handicapped the tourists. Many strokes by all three batsmen sent the ball in the air, invariably just clear of the'fieldsmen. Cowie, coming on- with a second new l»all, bowled full out and scored two quick successes, one caught at cover and the other bowled by a heautiful ball which just took the bails. Robins, after some uppish strokes, returned an easy catch to Roberts. England declared at lunch. Cowie again was the most impres•ive bowler. He was played carefully, •ven when the wieket was against him. Roberts was very steady. Yivian fiighted his slows well and occasionally iurned the ball sharply. Dunning was tmlucky when the wieket was helping; his off spin might easily ■ have been played into instead of just out of the bands of the fieldsmen. Another Batting Collapse Kew Zealand soon had their backs to the wall again. Vivian was the lone star among the early batsmen. Hadlee was caught in the gully. Wallace was beaten by an extra-fast ball. Weir was caught at mid-off in making a drive, Vivian, undismayed by the position of the game and quality of the attack, was confident and aggressive. Beautiful drives and - powerful hooks yielded seven fours, eight two and two threes. ■ After Gover and Matthews had taken the shine off the new ball the attaek was left mainly to the spinners Robins and Goddard. The latter sometimes had four short-legs within a few feet of the bat. Hammond, varying his pace cleverly, was an effective relief bowler. Vivian and Donnelly were dismissed in quick succession; Roberts followed soon afterwards. In the crisis a fine defensive innings was played by Moloney, who batted for over two hours against keen L'owling and fielding without the slightest risk or chance. Compton, the left-hand elow medium bowler, was tried after tea and had an instant success. . vTindill, who had batted stubbornly for half an hour before tea, continued determinedly i'or over an hour after the interval, ably supported by Dunning. The latter stayed so long tbat no time was left to force a win. England batted half an hour, a wieket falling in the last over. Scores : — ENGLAND. First Innings. Barnett, c Hadlee, b Cowio 13 Washbrook, l.b.w., b Vivian- .... 9 Hutton, c and b Vivian, . 12 Compton, run out 65 Hardstaff, b Cowie 103 Hammond, e Wallace, b Cowie ..... 31 Ames, not out 6 Robins, c and b Eoberts 9 Matthews, not out 2 Extras 4 Total for 7 wiekets (declared) 254

Seeond Innings. Barnett, e Eoberts,, b Dunning ., 21 ]Washbrook, not out S Extras ...................... 2 Total for one wieket ........ 31 Bowline.

NEW ZEALAND First Innings 249 Seeond Innings. Hadlee, e Compton, b Matthews . . 0 Wallace, l.b.w., b Gover 7 Weir, c Hutton, b Goddard S Vivian, l.b.w., b Hammond ...... 57 Donnelly, c Ames, b Hammond .. 0 Eoberts, l.b.w., b Goddard ....... 9 Moloney, b Compton 38 Tindill, not out 37 Dunning, b Compton 19 Cowie, c Robins, b Hutton 2 Page, absent 0 Extras 10 Total. 1S7

O. M. R. W. Cowie ...... 25 5 73 3 Roberts .... 15 4 26 1 Dunning .... 25 5 89 0 Vivian .... 29 5 62 2

Bowling

: : O. 1L R. W. Coy# » 4 1 15 0 : Roberts -JU. 4 X 9 O Banning , ft _• I ™

• - > • » O. M. It. W. Gover .... 12 1 41 1 > Matthews . . 8-2 13 1 Goddard ... 18 8 41 2 Robins 11 2 24 0 Hammond m 11 3 19 2 Gompton ^ 6 0 34 2 s — -Huttoa- no 2 i . %