Date-stamped : 13 Nov95 - 10:34 Tour Match: South Africa 'A' v England Kimberley, 9, 10, 11, 12 November 1995 ====> Prematch, 8 Nov 95 Adams poses an unusual threat to Test preparation By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Kimberley BY WAY of preparation for their meeting with no fewer than five fast bowlers in one team in next week`s first Test, the most in- teresting bowler the England team will face in the dress rehear- sal starting here this morning is an unknown purveyor of left-arm chinamen. Paul Adams promises to be a fascination in himself, but unless he repeats his extraordinary success in his first match for Western Province two days ago, the 18-year-old Cape Coloured is unlikely to be a Test cricketer for a year or two yet. Adams took six for 101 on a worn pitch at Centurion Park, the scene of the first Test, in a spell of 35.4 overs to bowl his province to an eight-wicket win against Northern Transvaal in the Castle (formerly Currie) Cup. His match analysis was 59.5-9-190- 8, a notable first-class debut by any standards in any country, but immensely significant in a land where the spinner has been very much second best for many years and the wrist spinner almost an extinct species. It is the latest happy example that the art is, in fact, still very much alive and the hope must be that Adams will confirm his promise in this game and join the likes of Warne, Kumble, Mushtaq Ahmed and, dare I add, Salisbury, as actu- al or potential Test match-winners. Adams has more than just the banner of his difficult craft to carry. He has also become, almost literally overnight, the most likely first product of the assiduous and expensive development programme in which Ali Bacher and hundreds of willing helpers have been involved for a decade. It was always expected that the first high-profile product of the development schemes would be an African `quickie` If Adams should reach the Test team ahead of Makhaya Ntini, the fast bowler of similar age who confirmed his great promise and, equally significantly, his big heart, against England on that mercilessly slow pitch at East London earlier this week, it would be a trifle ironic, since it was always expected that the first high-profile product of the development schemes would be an Afri- can "quickie". That there is much more to the programme, however, than producing possible Test players was evident from the opening of another brand new cricket ground in a township yesterday. At Galeshewe, the sprawling collection of shacks where the workers were once employed in much larger numbers than they are now by the mighty diamond empire of De Beers, the Yorkshire Cricket Club Ground was officially opened in the presence of the entire England touring party and the big wigs of South African cricket, including the ubiquitous Dr Bacher and Krish Mackerdhuj, the United Cricket Board`s president. The Yorkshiremen Ray Illingworth, Darren Gough and, notwithstand- ing his emigration to Worcester, Richard Illingworth, were proud- ly to the fore but the credit for the Yorkshire association ap- parently goes mainly to David Bairstow, the former Yorkshire cap- tain and England wicketkeeper, who spent several winters here ca- joling the young Africans into a love of the game and supporting the local provincial side, Griqualand West. It is debatable, however, whether Yorkshire cricketers are as in- fluential in current South African cricket as men of Derbyshire. Their former left-arm spinner, Fred Swarbrook, is one of three ex-Derbyshire players now acting as groundsmen on major grounds here and he has prepared what looks like an ideal pitch for the four-day match against South Africa `A` at the verdant Country Club, a ground which is an oasis in a flat and barren landscape reminiscent of the hottest and dullest parts of the Australian interior. But for diamonds this would still be the preserve of rhinos, cats and bucks. Mark Ilott is the feasible alternative to Malcolm in the Test at- tack next week The England team desperately need a pitch with some pace and though Swarbrook has taken off most of the grass it feels hard enough for Devon Malcolm to bowl with sufficient pace to claim the Test place which all South Africa assumes, erroneously, to be his by right. Mark Ilott is the feasible alternative to Malcolm in the Test attack next week, assuming Darren Gough confirms in this game what has seemed to be the case in the nets these last two days, namely that the rhythm, confidence and speed which eluded him all last season have come flooding back. Ilott is unlikely to play in this game, however, because Mike Watkinson is expected to be fit and the pitch to allow some turn as it wears. If Mike Atherton wins the toss this morning he will undoubtedly choose to bat first against what promises to be a fiery South African attack, led by the Test bowler Steven Jack and Roger Telemachus, who opens the bowling for Boland with Phil- lip DeFreitas. Lance Klusener, a talented all-rounder who sounds as though he comes straight from Macauley`s Horatius (Lars Porse- na of Clusium, by the nine gods he swore . . . ) will support these two along with the left-arm spinners, Adams and Nicky Boje. It should amount to a worthy trial for the six batsmen England would like to take into the first Test, if only Robin Smith can finally put an innings together. Graham Thorpe, too, needs a good, long innings, having so far taken guard only once since the tour started on Oct 19. England (from): M A Atherton, A J Stewart, M R Ramprakash, G P Thorpe, G A Hick, R A Smith, -R C Russell, M Watkinson, D Gough, A R C Fraser, D E Malcolm, M C Ilott. South Africa `A` (from): G F J Liebenberg, P J R Steyn, J B Com- mins, J H Kallis, L J Wilkinson, L Klusener, S J Palframan, N Boje, S D Jack, R Telemachus, P Adams, Brooker. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 1, 9 Nov 95 Bacher shines as Malcolm suffers By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Kimberley First day of four: South Africa A (325-5) v England THERE is a sickly greyness to the `bulli` soil which was used for the square of the Kimberley Country Club when it was relaid under Fred Swarbrook`s direction two years ago. The colour of potter`s clay and the same hue, too, as the mynhoop, the slag heap from one of the local diamond mines which forms the only feature on the skyline, it dictated the nature of the cricket on the first day of England`s four-day match against South Africa `A`. Hopes that the hard and beautifully even surface would have a bit of pace proved vain. The spin of the coin condemned England to a long day of toil in a temperature of 100F and in the cir- cumstances the touring team could hardly be too displeased with a South Africa A team total of 325 for five. This was especially true given an assured second wicket stand of 181 between Jacques Kallis, the next in line for the Test team, and Adam Bacher, 22, the nephew of South Africa`s former captain, Ali, who made his second first-class hundred. It is a pitch on which any self-respecting batsman would back himself to get runs once he makes a start and these two took their chances admirably. If the Test at Centurion Park next week really is going to be played on a hard and grassy pitch it will be the first the Eng- land batsmen have seen. They must beware any suspicion of a con- spiracy to keep them on slow pitches until the series starts, be- cause quick pitches anywhere in the world these days are a rari- ty. At tea, when the South Africans were 203 for one, there was po- tential for severe embarrassment for England, but four more wick- ets came in a long evening session - 42 overs long - when the most searing heat had eased. Until then the touring team had not, on the whole, bowled well. There was too much that was wide on both sides of the pitch - breaking the golden rule on merci- less surfaces such as these of bowling a length and erring, if anything, to the off side of straight. Angus Fraser, as usual, was the exception, setting a fine example of disciplined accuracy but it was not until his 40th over of the tour and his 18th of the day that he finally took his first wick- et of the tour. Darren Gough was as guilty as anyone of spraying the ball about but he did at least swing it, picking up the first wicket in the day`s 14th over and another with a bouncer when the old ball was moving with, rather than against the shine. Mike Watkinson was inconsistent, too, as he tends to be, but he had an unlucky day. The spotlight fell primarily, of course, on Devon Malcolm. It was the pitch of his nightmares rather than his dreams and his first two five-over spells cost, respectively, 19 and 36, with nothing getting past the bat for reasons of width and only one ball rap- ping the gloves of the soon entrenched Bacher. A thunderstorm and five hours separated Malcolm`s second and third spells but with the second new ball he found a little extra and, mercifully, the edge of a bat. Only a hurried hook at a short ball from Gough suggested a weak- ness which England might be able to exploit There was a five minute delay at the start because of very light rain but a heavier downpour followed an hour and a half later after a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder as dramatic as anything in the cricket all day. By then Rudolph Steyn had spoiled a neat start by edging a wide outswinger from Gough straight to Graham Thorpe at first slip. It was England`s only wicket for 37 overs. Bacher, stocky like his uncle, but that much more muscular in this age of gym-honed professionals, was resolute and correct. It was Kallis who caught the eye, though, confirming the reputation he made before turning 20 on South Africa`s under-24 tour of Sri Lanka and enhanced with scores of 58 and 186 not out against Queensland on Western Province`s pre-season tour of Australia. Tallish and right-handed, he moves his feet decisively either way and shows the bowler his left shoulder and the full face of a very straight bat. His 11 fours were struck mainly through extra-cover yesterday and his one major slice of luck came when Watkinson got a ball to turn through his gate when he was a yard out of his ground. Much as he missed Sherwin Campbell off Richard Illingworth at Trent Bridge last summer, Jack Russell, who other- wise kept wicket slickly, failed to gather the ball as it leapt awkwardly over the middle-and leg stumps. Otherwise, only a hurried hook at a short ball from Gough sug- gested a weakness which England might be able to exploit on quicker pitches should Kallis win a Test cap soon. The smaller Bacher has the build to be a good hooker and his fierce, flat crack over square-leg off Malcolm - a bouncer to some, a long-hop to Bacher - was the shot of the day. He hit 10 fours too and made the fullest use of the chance which came when Gerhardus Lieben- berg withdrew because of the after-effects of pneumonia. Kallis was out two overs after tea, rather unluckily, when he swept at Graeme Hick and the ball trickled off his pads onto the stumps. Bacher`s going, by contrast, was almost a self- destruction because there were two men at long-leg when he hooked at Gough and unerringly found Watkinson. Louis Wilkinson, scorer of a Castle Cup double hundred two weeks ago, edged a drive to first slip in Malcolm`s second over with the new ball and two overs later John Commins` patient but never entirely convincing innings ended with in an edged cut. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 2, 10 Nov 95 Stuff of dreams as South African gem puts England`s best to flight - Christopher Martin-Jenkins Second day: England are 127-4 in reply to S Africa A 470-9 dec BOYS` Own stories are alive and well in Kimberley. The discovery of Paul Adams, the 18-year-old `mystery bowler`, may not be quite as momentous as the unearthing near here in 1866 of the 83 carat diamond known later as the Star of South Africa but it is excit- ing just the same. In the biggest match of his life this little left-arm wrist spinner fluttered England`s dovecot the moment he came on to bowl, eight overs after tea. At that stage 55 for no wicket in reply to the South African A XI`s 470 for nine declared, England were 59 for four six overs later as Adams bowled Alec Stewart with a perfectly pitched goog- ly second ball and in his first four overs took three for one. Graham Thorpe, pushing forward, was caught off bat and pad at silly point and Graeme Hick patted a full toss straight back at the bowler. It truly was a start straight out of fiction for this stocky fel- low who stands not much more than twice the height of the stumps and spins the ball from the back of his left hand with his eyes looking over the bowling umpire`s head at the moment of release. Between his first and second wickets Mark Ramprakash, of whom so much is expected at No 3, got an outside edge to Jacques Kallis to exacerbate England`s embarrassment. Adams finished with three for 33 from 18 overs. He was always likely to cause trouble given an action which will enable him to spin the ball sharply on most surfaces, even a docile one like this. He is, too, remarkably accurate for one who gives the ball such a tweak. Such is the angle of his arm and wrist as he delivers, however, it must be almost impossible for him to bowl a chinaman (the off-break to a right-hander) and Mike Atherton quickly realised that he could be played as a leg-spinner, with only an occasional quicker ball to worry about as a variant. It gradually became apparent that the Adams conundrum could be unravelled, especially by as cool and intelligent a cricketer as Atherton With luck, of course, Adams will learn other tricks. This is only his second first-class match and in three innings he has already taken 11 wickets. Eddie Barlow was the first influential man to spot his talent and Clive Rice correctly assessed last weekend that he would not be overcome by the experience of playing in an important match against an international side with so little ex- perience. Not for the first time one must doubt whether English selectors, blessed with such an original talent, would have had the same vision. There is one fear about Adams, apart from the fact that familiar- ity with his idiosyncratic action will make him easier to play, and that is the possibility some umpires might consider he straightens his arm illegally. We must hope not, because wrist- spinners, left or right, mean fun for everyone. The last to bowl specialist left-arm unorthodox in Test cricket was, I believe, the Trinidadian, the late Inshan Ali, whose 12-match Test career was starting just as that of Gary Sobers, who took perhaps 10 per cent of his 235 Test wickets with chinamen, was finishing, in 1973-74. It gradually became apparent that the Adams conundrum could be unravelled, especially by as cool and intelligent a cricketer as Atherton. With Robin Smith, who might have known that he would have to come in against the sort of spinner against whom he in- variably feels uncomfortable, the England captain batted his side to the relative safety of 127 for four. From Atherton this was only what was expected. Smith`s staunch- ness was equally characteristic, but in view of his miserable start to the tour, much more significant. He needed some luck but played well and in the short time he was allowed to see a quick bowler he uppercut a six over cover`s head to suggest all will be well when the real challenges start. He was, too, the only bats- man to play in a cap. Why anyone has needed a helmet on this pitch is a mystery, for all the hostility of Jack, Telemachus, Klusener and Kallis. Against England`s less fresh fast bowlers the South African tail wagged in the morning and for much of the afternoon, steadily at first, merrily later when Steven Jack hit three sixes. The most significant performance for the home side, Adams apart, came from the all-rounders, Lance Klusener and Jacques Kallis. Klusener played within himself as a batsman, but he is a left- hander who clearly knows what he is about and before he was lbw to a slower full toss from Darren Gough he dealt capably with his variations, some better directed overs from Devon Malcolm and a steadier effort, especially in his morning spell of one for 22 from 11 overs, by Mike Watkinson. Hick, however, certainly did not suffer by comparison. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu) ====> Day 3, 11 Nov 95 Smith secures his Test spot under seige - Scyld Berry Third day: England (308 & 136-4) need 26 runs to make S Africa A (470-9 dec) bat again DURING the Boer War siege here, British soldiers were hemmed in by Cronje`s forces. This weekend England`s cricketers are being besieged in an excellent match, though by South Africa A for- tunately, not by Hansie Cronje`s Test side. Still 26 runs behind with six wickets left, England, to survive, have to bat for two sessions today against two left-arm spinners on a pitch that is gradually powdering and turning ever more. That is why a defeat would not be too disturbing for England. The conditions here are not what they will be in the Tests, which is precisely what will disturb them: that they have to enter the series without any experience of good pace on bouncy pitches. Graham Thorpe will be the least prepared of all, deprived of practice against speed and spin alike as he took a frustrated heave against Paul Adams and was stumped, giving him four runs in the game. His only innings before he had to fly home was 22 in a limited-overs match. Adams, with the last possible ball yesterday, a quicker chinaman, trapped Mark Ramprakash half-forward, his seventh wicket in the match to date for 136 runs. Adams also had Devon Malcolm dropped twice and, more pertinently, Alec Stewart at mid-on. Graeme Hick`s pulls have been England`s most convincing shots against the freakish sensation. While a crowd of around 2,000, mostly but not exclusively white, enjoyed a family day-out under their parasols, Mike Atherton was no more successful than Thorpe, being leg-before twice in the day for four runs. The first time he was hit on the pad-roll as he played back; the second time he shouldered arms, expecting an outswinger which wasn`t. But the captain had already set some ex- ample by remaining calm on Friday during the turmoil of Adams`s amazing entry. Russell had 60 when Malcolm walked out to play the shot of the day off his first ball Smith was far more composed against Adams yesterday, no longer driving comically at thin air and, according to Raymond Illing- worth, has done enough for a Test place. Smith either waited and played back to Adams, or pushed well for- ward with his pad. He got out by touching one of Jacques Kallis`s medium-paced outswingers with an open face - at full stretch Steve Palframan might not have held it without using gloves of baseball-mitt proportions. Mike Watkinson swept at the orthodox left-arm spinner, bowling from over the wicket, and made rather a Boje of it, being bowled behind his legs. But Jack Russell was embarked on his three defi- ant hours, and eagerly pulled Lance Klusener for seven of his 18 fours, three in a row towards the end. Russell had 60 when Malcolm walked out to play the shot of the day off his first ball, an off-drive la Clyde Walcott. To- wards the end of his innings, Russell nursed the tail as confi- dently as Steve Waugh, and even forgot his French-cricket stance - facing down the pitch - against Adams. England were mildly surprised to follow on. The heat was one con- sideration, so fierce that the correspondent of the Diamond Fields Advertiser (daily circulation: 7,200) brought his own electric fan into the press box and announced the temperature was 36 degrees centigrate. But there was little shade, as the Country Club lies between white suburbs, their gardens hosed by water drawn from the Vaal, and the scorched beige scrub, unending beyond the mines and spoil-heaps. These are fit young men, however, and they set themselves to dismiss England, 162 behind, a second time. Stewart, reprieved when 31, and Ramprakash, anxious for his first hour but using his feet against Adams, were weathering the heat when Stewart again failed to clear mid-on; then Thorpe made it a poor day for Surrey shot-selection. But if England can set a target of 150, they might scare their opponents. Representative teams like this often do not have the same resolu- tion to avoid defeat as regional teams; and the pitch will turn and bounce for England`s off-spinners. It is not inconceivable that another Kimberley siege can yet be raised. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu) ====> Day 4, 12 Nov 95 Tourists` hopes crumble as Commins leads way home By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Kimberley Fourth day: South Africa A (470-9 & 148-4) beat England (308 & 309) by six wickets IT was a good cricket match, but a bad one for England. Bowled out for 309 after following on, they lost to South Africa`s A team by six wickets and deserved no better. On another day of remorseless heat, when the sky was a vast and flawless blue void above the flat terrain, and the temperature reached 115F in the shade, England managed to hang on from their perilous overnight position until half an hour before tea, but it was not quite long enough, nor did they score sufficiently heavily. Left to make 148 in a minimum of 43 overs, the home team won in the 12th over of the final hour, with a ball and four more overs in hand. Adam Bacher, dropped twice, nevertheless played another sound innings before Angus Fraser had him brilliantly caught by Jack Russell where first slip might have been, and the captain, John Commins, made 54 in elegant style off 64 balls. On England`s behalf, Ray Illingworth emphatically declared him- self to be dissatisfied, which was no more than a statement of the obvious. Time will tell if it was the bad match which the team under his management have now removed from their system, or whether it was the start of another wretched tour. Commins was fortunate to win the toss, but his XI were the more impressive from first to last. England could find no bowler with anything like the match-winning potential of Paul Adams, who took five for 116 in the second innings and nine for 181 in the match. In his first two first-class matches he has taken 17 wickets at 21 and the paucity of bad balls he bowled in this enormous test of his temperament was as impressive as the threat posed by the sharp leg-spin engendered by his peculiar action. To watch one eccentric, Jack Russell, meeting the challenge of another, Adams, was a treasure to take away from a constantly interesting match. The game provided none of the desired solutions to England`s problems. Devon Malcolm batted with spirit in both innings, hit- ting no fewer than six sixes yesterday in his second-highest first-class innings of 48, but it was bowling of incisive speed for which England were looking and he could not produce it in ei- ther innings. Robin Smith had two useful innings, batting for two hours in his second innings of 28 yesterday, but neither Mike Atherton, in the first innings, nor Alec Stewart in the second could translate 50 into the necessary 100; but for last-wicket stands of 46 on Sa- turday between Malcolm and Russell and 59 yesterday between Mal- colm and Angus Fraser, defeat would have been swifter and nearer to a genuine humiliation. Russell`s batting in both innings, full of character, common sense, stentorian calling and pure skill, was one of very few good things to come out of the game from England`s point of view. To have bowled with so little penetration and batted with such faltering concentration before a first Test which may well decide the outcome of the entire series was, if not catastrophic, at least disappointing and untimely. Asked afterwards if he would be talking forcibly to the team, Il- lingworth said: "I think they`ll understand what I mean. With six major batsmen and Jack Russell on that pitch somebody should have made a big score. More concentration and application is re- quired. We`ll have to sort it out in the next few days." Fraser bowled with passion and accuracy to make the South Afri- cans work hard for their success yesterday evening, but to have saved the day something genuinely inspirational was required from more than one bowler and on an iron-hard pitch, albeit one pitted and cracked at both ends, it was not forthcoming. England had started the day, already red hot for the 10am start, still 26 runs behind, with six wickets in hand. Despite the heat Commins had bravely enforced the follow-on on Saturday afternoon, a decision which probably won the game. Smith and Graeme Hick dealt capably with the now more familiar Adams googlies, but when the lead was only 21 the greatly promis- ing Jacques Kallis found extra bounce to have Hick caught in the gully as he aimed a back-foot force and Smith was brilliantly caught down the leg side by Steve Palframan off a leg-glance. Russell alone looked completely on top of his job until Malcolm`s immense strength gave England their outside chance of saving the game. The wicket-keeper was ninth out, slicing a drive as he came down the pitch to Nicky Boje, an orthodox left-arm spinner oversha- dowed by Adams but who bowled very well himself. Both Mike Watkinson and Darren Gough had made no secret of the fact that they had got bad decisions, lingering at the crease sufficiently to have incurred the wrath of at least some referees had they behaved similarly in a Test match. There were, too, two instances of bad-tempered reaction in the field by England players to the heavily unsubtle humour of some of the South Afri- can spectators. Tempers may fray in the heat but there will be more hot days and more jibes. This is not the only aspect of the England perfor- mance which needs instant attention. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu)