Date-stamped : 08 Jul94 - 18:26 ILLY AND ATHERTON SHOULD SHARE VICTORY SPOILS Third Cornhill Test: England v New Zealand With England heading towards a comfortable win in the third Test, the sunset of the first series of the summer is casting a rosy glow over Raymond Illingworth's debut as master of all he sur- veys. Only further deeds beyond the call of duty from the wonder talent that is Martin Crowe and more defiance from Adam Parore, part of a sparky nucleus on which New Zealand can base their fu- ture with optimism, can prevent the game progressing much beyond lunchtime today. It is four years since England beat the Kiwis and then India to win a home series, and before that long-suffering supporters needed to go back to the glory days of 1985. That is far too long: a lean spell that would make Jack Sprat slaver at the mouth. But things should be kept in perspective. If the chairman and his committee had been given carte blanche to choose a series in which to establish their credentials and "stop the bleeding" as they are wont to say, they would probably have chosen Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe. But New Zealand in the throes of transition and wrecked by injuries and illness fitted the bill pretty nicely in- stead. Overall the Kiwis have not been up to scratch, performing inade- quately around the county circuit and playing above themselves - gloriously so - only at Lord's, where they should have won, and on the first day at Old Trafford, where their shrewd bowling tac- tics, applied with discipline, got the better of everyone but the unflappable Mike Atherton. A top county side would back themselves to beat Ken Rutherford's side over a series. Still a man can only do what a man has got to do and Illingworth, who will get his brickbats when things go wrong and take them on the chin, can take a measure of credit now. What this match has proved is the freshness and the sheer vivaci- ty that youth can bring. Atherton played magnificently to give his side their chance (the greater the load, the more he seems able to bear it) and once the handhold had been gained, the kids took over. Gough has had a wide-eyed rollicking time on his de- but. Goodness knows what he thinks of Test cricket: runs seemed to be a sneeze, wickets a doddle. He will find out soon enough that it is not all like that but for now he is a revelation, bowling aggressively and quick. Above all he showed control and, if he stays fit and slim, he could be an asset for years. Phil DeFreitas - not quite a kid but still only 28 - has enjoyed the sort of return to the fold which few can have expected after his previous tribulations. Even coming into this match there were doubts; he has strung two performances together in the past and then blown out on the third. Instead he has come up with out- standing bowling, the horrible incessant in-drift a thing of the past. Then there is Craig White, who has an indefinable something which makes him look comfortable in the Test arena. He seems to have the makings of an accomplished batsman, his pressure partnership with Atherton crucial to this match. Yet his bowling here, on the sort of pitch that is a rarity rather than the norm in world cricket, has encapsulated both his strength - aggression, surprise, a little movement and a wicked bouncer when the arc of his arm is longer - and his weaknesses which will be exposed on slower, lower pitches. The job of third seamer entails ploughing the sort of daily fur- row normally associated with Angus Fraser - currently struggling to make an impact other than as a stock bowler - as well as rip- ping out batsmen. White's presence could be as a shock weapon rather than a frontliner, all of which puts Illingworth's bal- anced attack on the backburner for a while. To give all credit to Illingworth, however, would be wrong. En- glish Test cricket began its upward mobility pre-Raymond, when Atherton was appointed captain. In the West Indies, with a young side, the learning curve went up as the tour progressed, a point conveniently missed by those who take the fatuous view that the last two Tests were of little import since England had already been badly beaten. In fact West Indies would quite have enjoyed winning 50 and there is evidence to suggest that, had the captain had a free hand this summer, then that progress would have been maintained. Perhaps Atherton might not have sanctioned the return of DeFrei- tas (a success) or the inclusion of White (a qualified partial success) but neither would he have been so ready to ignore the claims for inclusion made by Graham Thorpe in West Indies and John Crawley on the A tour last winter and again this summer. It is a question of judgment. Illingworth has shown much initia- tive this summer but he has not been infallible. His loyalty to Robin Smith and Graeme Hick is probably going beyond the pale. If he cannot see that the team must move on beyond these two and perhaps Graham Gooch as well, then he is not quite the visionary he is being made out to be. (Extracted from an article by Mike Selvey in The Guardian) Contributed by Vicky (VIGNESWA@*umass.edu)