M Etheridge: Ill wind blows for WP as OFS score freely (16 Nov 1997)

16th November 1997

Ill wind blows for WP as Free State score freely

Mark Etheridge at Newlands

Rusty, a typical first day of a SuperSport cricket season ... that's how Western Province captain Craig Matthews summed up yesterday's play after the opening day of their four-day fixture against Free State.

It was also a day of firsts. In the first session, a cloud of acrid smoke, emanating from the brewery across the railway line, drove the players from the field briefly and there can be few scoreboards around the world that have flashed the notice "Bad smell stops play".

Thankfully the players were back in action barely five minutes later but the game never really caught fire as Free State ended on 284 for five after 104 overs.

It must also surely have been the first time that Brian McMillan and Herschelle Gibbs, two of the country's most dependable fielders, have put down what amounted to not much more than regulation catches on the same day.

That, coupled with some more indifferent fielding and mostly lacklustre bowling, saw Free State captain Gerhardus Liebenberg pretty happy with proceedings.

"Craig won the toss but I think we would also have batted if we'd won," said Liebenberg. "And at the end of the day we're pretty happy with 284. Although the wicket wasn't that fast it was always doing something and you were never really at ease. I thought Craig was definitely the pick of the bowlers."

Never a truer statement the WP skipper bowled his heart out and his figures of 2/43 from 22 overs are scant reflection of his efforts.

He took out opener Andre Volsteedt for 22 and comeback kid Boeta Dippenaar for 11, and of the five Province bowlers used always looked the most dangerous.

"It wasn't a great performance," said Matthews. "We didn't use the new ball well and we need to do a lot more work."

Matthews also had the misfortune of being no-balled a splitsecond before he castled his opposite number when he was on just 39.

Certainly Province's two other international bowlers, McMillan and Paul Adams, looked for the most part unpenetrating.

McMillan opened the bowling and ended with 0/47 off 18 overs and Adams, who seemed almost obliged to throw in at least one full toss and one long hop an over sometimes both went for 69 from 21 overs.

On this evidence Adams needs a lot more match practice before taking on the Australians in the coming tour.

McMillan's opening partner Allan Dawson took 2/74 in an honest effort but also tended to lose his line at times.

Apart from Liebenberg, who played a captain's knock with 72 (11 boundaries), Louis Wilkinson continued his good form against Western Province.

In his last four-day fixture against the hosts, he hit an undefeated 139 and yesterday looked on course for another ton before a direct hit from Dawson saw him run out for 81 (130 balls, 12 x 4, 1x 6).

Liebenberg reckons he'd like to bat through another session this morning and get close to 400 before declaring, but with rain threatening for most of the afternoon and even forcing an early tea break the notoriously unpredictable Cape weather could yet have the last laugh.

Source:: The Argus (copyright Independent Newspapers 1997)