Date-stamped : 23 Nov95 - 02:31 Electronic Telegraph Wednesday 22 November 1995 Fantasy Test Match: Fraser and Gough find keyboard to success Christopher Martin-Jenkins on a painless Test gain for England ANGUS FRASER was deprived of perhaps the greatest bowling performance of his career, and England of an outstanding and potentially series-deciding win, by the rain which ruined the first Test in Pretoria. A computer analysis of what would have happened had the match resumed from its actual position last Saturday morning, commissioned by The Daily Telegraph from Gordon Vince's The Ultimate Cricket Simulation, reveals England would have won at Centurion Park by 165 runs to go one up with four to play. Facts about the players, their form in relation to each other, and the pitch and weather conditions revealed that Fraser was the hero, but that his seven first-innings' wickets would not have led to victory had it not been for an electrifying piece of hitting by Darren Gough on the final morning. Fraser's characteristically unstinting performance began with the bat on Saturday when play resumed on time after the thunderstorm which interrupted the England first innings at tea-time on Friday. That evening, Dr Ali Bacher, chief executive of the United Cricket Board, had rather surprisingly won the agreement of both captains and the umpires that, in view of the historic nature of the occasion, five overs would be added to the daily quota on each of the last three days to make up for the time lost. Fraser staunchly held an end for Jack Russell, whose glorious momentum the previous evening was not maintained as Hansie Cronje set realistic fields and reduced his swashbuckling hits to midwicket and point from fours to singles. England had spent half-an- hour adding a further 12 runs when Russell drove the deserving Shaun Pollock hard to mid-off. All credit, nonetheless, to Russell, whose innings made sure that this was a really substantial total and a possible foundation for victory. Cronje got a great reception and a magnificent cover-drive off Cork promised well That hope foundered at first on a steady and resolute start to the South African first innings which delighted a large and patriotic crowd. It was not until Fraser's second spell, his first of the afternoon session, that he found Gary Kirsten's outside edge with a good length ball angled across the batsman. Russell's catch was low, neat and to his left. Robin Marlar of The Sunday Times roared his approval from the press-box. Cronje got a great reception and a magnificent cover-drive off Cork promised well, but Fraser produced the ball of the match for him which nipped back through an apparently invisible gate off a perfect length to hit middle-and-off. At 94 for two the game had reached an important point, not least because Daryll Cullinan's form was uncertain, his position in the South African team under threat from Jacques Kallis. Like Hick in England's first innings, he embarked on what became an authoritative performance with extreme caution. Peter Lever must have had a stern word at lunch with Cork and Gough because they were far steadier, but it took a run-out to break a dangerous partnership between Cullinan and the apparently entrenched Andrew Hudson, who failed to beat an underarm throw by Mark Ramprakash from cover. If Fraser's part in this breakthrough had been indirect, he now followed-up by having Jonty Rhodes first ball to leave South Africa 160 for four. Brian McMillan is a formidable fellow to have coming out at No 6, but he lifted the newly-introduced Hick straight to Illingworth on the square-leg boundary. However, with South Africa 290 for five at the close on a pitch giving only very occasional uneven bounce, a draw was the most likely result. Fraser rapidly changed that on the fourth morning. Dr Bacher had just issued a press-release hailing the event as "an historic triumph for all the people of Northern Transvaal" when Dave Richardson edged a drive low to second slip. It was the start of a final spell of 12-7-21-4 by Fraser, bringing back memories of his eight for 75 against the West Indies in Bridgetown. England's ninth-wicket pair added 114 in 157 minutes, savaging the second new ball Cullinan reached a well-deserved second Test hundred in style, with a pull over midwicket off Illingworth to add to his 11 fours, but Illingworth immediately had revenge and, half-an-hour later, England were batting. Michael Atherton was again the sheet anchor, but his purpose was different this time. He believed there was still time for England to win, despite their modest first-innings lead of 19 and he played positively even when Alec Stewart and Mark Ramprakash disappointed a second time, the vice-captain caught behind cutting and Middlesex's enigma taken off the splice at short leg from an Allan Donald bouncer. Atherton and Thorpe added 91 for the fourth wicket and Thorpe played his best innings of the tour to date, hitting seven fours before Donald caught and bowled him. Atherton followed 10 minutes later and the match had come back on an even keel, with both sides now sniffing a possible victory. Hick never got going a second time, but Robin Smith played with four-square determination, amazingly hitting only two fours in his three hours at the crease before Jonty Rhodes flung himself to his right to stop a searing square-cut and threw down the stumps at the bowler's end as Smith hesitated fatally. England ended the long fourth day at 280 for eight, a lead of 299, and it was the inspirational hitting of Gough and the remarkably good timing of Illingworth on the final morning which provided the inspiration for what followed. Gough hit 10 fours and Illingworth a six over long-on off Kirsten which his watching former team-mate, Ian Botham, would not have disowned. Between them, England's ninth-wicket pair added 114 in 157 minutes, savaging the second new ball and making Brett Schultz regret his brave attempt to bowl with a muscle strain. South Africa were left 385 to win, but the pitch was getting almost tricky now and, realistically, the only question was whether they could last the remaining minimum of 80 overs. The speed with which Illingworth and Hick got though their overs, enabled England, in the end, to bowl 85 overs and four balls and it was off the 83rd over that Fraser, tired but triumphant, took his 10th wicket of the game to end what seemed likely to be a match-saving stand of 47 by Matthews and Donald. Six minutes later Cork, who bowled beautifully, had the hapless Schultz lbw and England could rejoice in the knowledge that you never get two days of rain in succession in South Africa. The Scoreboard That Never Was At Pretoria S Africa won toss ENGLAND - First Innings M A Atherton c Donald b Pollock 78 A J Stewart c Matthews b Schultz 6 M R Ramprakash c Richardson b Donald 9 G P Thorpe c Richardson b Pollock 13 G A Hick lbw b Pollock 141 R A Smith b McMillan 43 R C Russell c Cronje b Pollock 59 D G Cork c Matthews b McMillan 13 D Gough b McMillan 0 R K Illingworth b Donald 0 A R C Fraser not out 7 Extras (b 0, lb 16, W 1, nb 7) 24 -- Total (all out) 393 Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-36, 3-64, 4-206, 5-290, 6-320, 7-350, 8-358, 9-359. Bowling: Donald 37-12-95-2; Schultz 16- 5-47-l; Matthews 34-14-69-0; Pollock 33-9-101-4; McMillan 25-10-50-3; Cronje 8-5-14-0; Kirsten 2-1-1-0. Second Innings M A Atherton c McMillan b Matthews 65 A J Stewart c Richardson b Donald 10 M R Ramprakash c Kirsten b Donald 19 G P Thorpe c & b Donald 46 G A Hick c Rhodes b Matthews 12 R A Smith run out 40 R C Russell c Donald b Kirsten 12 D G Cork lbw b Pollock 16 D Gough c Pollock b Donald 70 R K Illingworth not out 50 A R C Fraser b McMillan 6 Extras (b2, 1b1, w7, nb9) 19 -- Total (all out) 365 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-52, 3-143, 4-149, 5-175, 6-191, 7-230, 8-234, 9-348. Bowling: Donald 30-6-94-4; Schultz 6-1-26-0; McMillan 19.1-4-38-1; Pollock 20-4-53-1; Matthews 24-3-78-2; Cronje 10-2-25-0; Kirsten 10-1-45-1. SOUTH AFRICA - First Innings A C Hudson run out 60 G Kirsten c Russell b Fraser 41 W J Cronje b Fraser 6 D J Cullinan c Russell b Illingworth 101 J N Rhodes c Thorpe b Fraser 0 B M McMillan c Illingworth b Hick 36 D J Richardson c Hick b Fraser 34 C R Matthews c Russell b Fraser 36 S M Pollock c Hick b Fraser 5 A A Donald not out 9 B N Schultz c sub b Fraser 5 Extras (b 6, 1b 10, w 5, nb 20) 41 -- Total (all out) 374 Fall of wickets: 1-85, 2-94, 3-160, 4-160, 5-226, 6-292, 7-340, 8-347, 9-364. Bowling: Cork 24-3-75-0; Gough 20-2-57-0; Fraser 45.2-8-112-7; Illingworth 22-6-61-1; Hick 25-4-53-1. Second Innings A C Hudson lbw b Hick 24 G Kirsten c Cork b Gough 6 W J Cronje c Cork b Illingworth 28 D J Cullinan b Fraser 19 J N Rhodes lbw b Fraser 22 B M McMillan c Atherton b Cork 30 D J Richardson c Ramprakash b Cork 28 C R Matthews c Hick b Fraser 25 S M Pollock c Thorpe b Gough 0 A A Donald not out 23 B N Schultz lbw b Cork 2 Extras (b 1, 1b 10, nb 1) 12 -- Total 219 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-60, 3-64, 4-89, 5-120, 6-163, 7-168, 8-168, 9-215. Bowling: Cork 16.4-7-29-3; Gough 13-5-31-2; Illingworth 20-3-63-1; Hick 17-1-48-1; Fraser 19-7-37-3. England win by 165 runs Source :: Electronic Telegraph Contributed by Shash (shs2@*.cwru.edu)