Cricket: Limp opposition of little value with test looming

By RICHARD BOOCK

EAST LONDON - Not for the first time on this tour, the New Zealand cricketers are faced with making another massive leap from the ridiculous to the sublime.

The way things were going yesterday, New Zealand were set to overwhelm a flimsy Border combination at Buffalo Park overnight, leaving them a couple of days to prepare for the second test against one of the strongest teams in world cricket.

Well as the New Zealanders were performing in their final shakedown before Port Elizabeth, the suspicion is that Border are not one of the heavyweight provinces in this country, with their first-innings batting proving so feeble that the game had become a non-event early on the second day.

Although the hosts were missing or resting many of their bowlers, their batting was blown apart by New Zealand's third-string bowling attack, and the tour selectors might feel none the wiser as they ponder their lineup for the second test.

It would not have been a complete surprise to learn that the Border batsmen had been plucked at random from one of the hospitality tents shortly before play began.

After struggling in the first test at Bloemfontein, the New Zealand bowlers required a tough workout at East London, but were instead able to slice through Border for a paltry 73 on Sunday, and were set to administer the coup-de-grace last night - with the home side still 388 runs in arrears with eight wickets in hand.

New Zealand have not exactly drawn the glamour provinces on this tour, playing Boland at Paarl, North-West at Potchefstroom and Border at East London, while missing out on the chance to lock horns with traditional powerhouses such as Western Province, Gauteng and Natal.

No one would deny them the benefits of an emphatic win in the lead-up to a test showdown, but there has been an element of the Emperor's New Clothes in their preparation for Port Elizabeth, with bowlers and batsmen alike made to look like world-beaters by some fairly mediocre opposition.

Apart from Craig Spearman, Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle's first-day efforts, Andrew Penn destroyed the Border batting line-up while snaring five for 38, and Adam Parore was able to put a rare batting opportunity to good use with an unbeaten century, as the tourists romped through to 185 without loss at the declaration.

Parore, who was not required in the first innings, demonstrated excellent batting form earlier in the tour with a century against Zimbabwe A, but appeared to be under-used in the subsequent one-dayers and was in danger of losing form as he approached the test series.

Against a Border attack that was missing Makhaya Ntini, West Indian Vasbert Drakes and three other pace bowlers, the New Zealand wicketkeeper opened the batting in the second innings and looked untroubled on a good Buffalo Park batting pitch, posting his unbeaten 101 in 174 minutes off 147 balls, while finding the boundary hoardings on 15 occasions.

Spearman too, appeared to find things ridiculously easy while scoring his second consecutive 50 before retiring hurt - apparently to preserve his not out status - while Mathew Sinclair was another who failed to receive the workout he was hoping for.

Depending on when the game finished overnight, New Zealand were scheduled to head down the coast to Port Elizabeth as soon as possible. Coach David Trist said the four-month tour had taken its toll on the players and the management in terms of the mental strain, but the squad were still in an upbeat mood and determined to produce an improved performance.