Cricket: Penn latest bowler on casualty list

By RICHARD BOOCK

EAST LONDON - There was a moment yesterday, just a fleeting instant in time, when you half expected New Zealand cricket coach David Trist to stride out of Buffalo Park, down the esplanade to the beach, and like the television character Reginald Perrin, march out to sea.

On a tour in which New Zealand's bowlers are rivalling the white rhino as South Africa's most endangered species, there was more carnage yesterday as the tourists wound up their preparations for the second test with a runaway 211-run win over Border.

Paceman Andrew Penn, having seemingly presented a strong case for inclusion in the second test team with a five-wicket bag in the first innings, aggravated what looked to be his old side-strain injury when he began the third day's play, and must now be considered an unlikely starter for Port Elizabeth tomorrow.

If he is ruled out it will complete a horrendous couple of weeks for the man known as "Gadget," who broke down just before departing in the second wave of replacement players, and was then called up when Scott Styris suffered a knee injury, only to be forced from the field during his first game of the tour.

Trist, who has seen so many comings and goings that his eyes are starting to spin, twice walked out on to the field yesterday to liaise with his captain, Stephen Fleming, after Penn's departure, presumably over the need to bring Kerry Walmsley up to speed as the only remaining fit, back-up paceman.

When Trist left, moustache bristling, he appeared to be calmly patting down his pockets as if searching for a cyanide pill, and it would not have been a complete surprise to learn that the dressing-room attendant had taken the precaution of removing his shoelaces.

Never mind the fact that he has already lost Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori, Dion Nash and Paul Wiseman, not to mention Simon Doull and Scott Styris, his immediate concerns are over Penn, Chris Martin and, to a lesser extent Brooke Walker, all of whom are under injury clouds as the second test approaches.

Penn's inability to bowl for two consecutive days in East London makes him a risky selection for St George's Park, particularly since Martin has been nursing an abdominal strain since the first test in Bloemfontein, and is by no means assured of being 100 per cent for the second test himself.

Ironically, the concerns over that pair may leave the door ajar for Daryl Tuffey to retain his place in the test line-up, though Trist's thoughts on that prospect suggest it would have more to do with a process of elimination than any startling recovery of form.

Tuffey was all over the place in the first innings, and although he knocked over the tail on the way to taking five for 69 in the second, there remained a feeling that quite often no one knew what was going to happen next, least of all the bowler.

"The word 'indifferent' reflects the stages that Daryl goes through," Trist said.

"He bowls some particularly good balls and then some balls that perhaps are a little disappointing. We're working on trying to get greater consistency of pace and line."

Presuming Martin is fit to play and Penn is not, a decision on the remaining paceman will come down to a straight choice between Tuffey and Walmsley, and yesterday Walmsley showed he could at least bowl on one side of the wicket with reasonable pace.

"Andrew Penn's departure was precautionary," Trist said. "We'll give him 24 hours to assess the extent of the damage and to give him every chance of being available.

"We're optimistic about Chris Martin's prospects, but we will await the results of a full net and review his situation then.

"We've got to be sure we can get him through five days, and at this stage the physiotherapist Mark Harrison is fairly confident of that."

The other New Zealand player restricted by injury is batsman Hamish Marshall, who received six stitches to his right knee after spiking himself during a fielding practice, and will apparently be preferred to Glen Sulzberger should anything to happen to one of the batsmen.

Trist said: "Hamish's stitches will be out in the next couple of days and he'll be acting as cover should any more calamitous events occur."