England v Rest Of The World, 1970

At Nottingham, July 2, 3, 4, 6, 7. England won by eight wickets. A match of constantly changing fortunes on the first three days was finally won by England in convincing fashion to square the series against all predictions. Before the week-end the weather was damp and cool, conditions which made the game a battle between the respective sets of seam bowlers. On Monday and Tuesday the weather brightened and although England's final target was 284, batting conditions on a slow-paced pitch were the easiest of the match. Lurkhurst, playing a dogged innings of 113 not out, which took him seven hours, saw England home with over four hours to spare.

Cowdrey, who made 64 in a second-wicket stand of 120 with his Kent colleague, became the highest scoring batsman in Test history; when 21 he passed Walter Hammond's aggregate of 7,249.

Lloyd and Barlow played memorable innings for the Rest of the World and lllingworth for England. The captain kept his side in the match with a knock of 97, adding 84 for the last wicket with Snow to secure a narrow lead. The two first innings followed almost identiral patterns, each side recovering from 126 for six. Despite the fine cricket played, the match failed to capture the interest of the Nottingham public, only 16,000 altogether watching the play on the five days.

Greig, the Sussex all-rounder, was the one new cap in the England side, which showed five changes. Jones, Denness, Sharpe and Shuttleworth were dropped and Ward was unfit. In came Edrich, Cowdrey, Fletcher, Brown and Greig, the last- named soon making an impression, for he took four for 59 as the World Xl were bowled out for 276 on the opening day.

They were rescued from disaster by a dashing, not out 114 by Lloyd; only Richards and Procter of the other batsmen made much of a showing. d'Oliveira began a collapse when he dismissed Barlow with his second ball, Greig soon joined him in the attack, and with the ball swinging freely the bowlers got on top. Richards played well for two and a half hours for 64, but when he was out only Lloyd of the specialist batsmen could handle the medium pace bowlers. He slashed, pulled and drove his way to his fourth Test century and third against England, hitting the ball with tremendous power. Three 6's and ten 4's were his chief scoring strokes in three hours and forty minutes of exhilarating strokeplay. Proctcr also attacked the bowling in a stand of 87, but when d'Oliveira, England's best bowler with four for 43, closed the innings at 276 five minutes before the normal time, England could be well satisfied with their days work.

Illingworth, for England, and Barlow, for the Rest of the World, dominated the second day which began with a steadfast partnership of 78 by Edrich and Luckhurst. Barlow, the fifth howler tried, caused a collapse when in his first seven overs he sent back Luckhurst, Cowdrey, Fletcher, Edrich and d'Oliveira for 17 runs, bemusing the batsmen with his outswing and constant changes of pace and angle. Greig hit his first three balls for 4, 3, 4 hut when he went England's prospects looked bleak, for Illingworth had only Knott and the bowlers left to support him. Illingworth, handicapped by a back injury which required a manipulative operation after the match, began shakily, edging three boundaries through the slips off an anguished Bsrloss. Knott stayed for an hour, but the ninth wicket svent at 195. Then Snow again proved himself one of Test cricket's great number eleven batsmen. He took runs calmly while Illingworth went boldly for the bowling.

The new ball, taken at 231 for nine, failed to unsettle the batsmen, who gained England an advantage of three runs before Illingworth, attempting to hit Sobers for his tenth boundary, was bowled three short of a century after a stay of three and three-quarter hours. He had given only one chance, being dropped by Sobers at short leg off Intikhab when 41.

The Rest of the World second innings revolved around Barlow, who added a score of 42 to his five England wickets. He defied the England bowlers throughout Saturday and into Monday morning while the majority of his colleagues straggled. Although lllingworth was unable to bowl he was not missed. Wickets fell steadily and a brief threat offered by Lloyd ended unluckily when he swept at Underwood and the ball rebounded high from his front pad and rolled on to the stumps.

Intikhab and Procter helped Barlow in valuable partnerships, but neither could play the major innings which the World XI needed. The last three wickets. including that of Barlow after six and a quarter hours of stern resistance, went down cheaply on Monday, leaving England plenty of time to get the runs; d'Oliveira's match figures were seven for 106 and Greig, seven for 130.

When England batted a second time, Luckhurst's unbreachable defence and Cowdrey's return to form soon removed most doubts about the eventual outcome. When Barlow finally had Cowdrey leg-before with a full toss England were 163 for two. In Monday's closing thirty minutes Luckhurst and Fletcher safely resisted the new ball and on the following morning took England smoothly to victory. Fletcher, playing his mnst confident Test innings in Fngland, made 69 of a third-wicket stand of 120, batting its carefree style while the patient Luckhurst kept the other end secure.