Date-stamped : 08 Nov94 - 22:24 South Australia v England Played at the Adelaide Oval, 4,5,6,7 November 1994 ====> Day 2, 5 Nov 94 McIntyre spin sends a warning to English tourists England's batsmen failed their first test against legspin here Saturday as South Australian tweaker Peter McIntyre exposed a raw nerve for the coming Ashes series against Australia's Shane Warne. McIntyre, who captured six wickets against England A here dur- ing the 1992-93 season, snared 4-9 in 5.4 overs to run through the tail in ominous fashion with the first Brisbane Test less than three weeks away. England were cruising at 271 for three in reply to SA's meagre first innings 102 when paceman Shane George and McIntyre trig- gered a collapse of 52 for seven in an hour that sent the tour- ists crashing to 323 all out. At the close on the second day SA were 116 for one, still trailing by 105 runs and facing a battle to avoid defeat, with opener Martin Faull on 41 and Paul Nobes 68. Warne's record 34 wickets in the 1993 series in England drove Australia to a 4-1 victory and he looms as the key to retaining the Ashes this season. Warne's emergence as a legspinner of rare class forced McIn- tyre to leave his native Victoria for South Australia three years ago. On Saturday the 28-year-old belied a career bowling average of 85 wickets at 47.74 to take 4-48 with a mixture of wrong-uns and leg breaks that bamboozled the English batsmen and kept them rooted to the crease. McIntyre didn't bowl until after Graham Gooch had made 50 and Graeme Hick a thunderous 101, but the de- tails of his success were sure to be relayed to Warne in Pakistan where Australia are play- ing in the third Test in Lahore. "I think Warney is going to have some great fun with these guys," McIntyre predicted afterwards. "He'll do very well, espe- cially on the drier wickets. They played very much from the crease and didn't look too con- fident really. Only Gatting came down for the occasional one, but I suppose they're renowned for that, and he was the only one who picked the wrong-un." McIntyre beat lefthander Graham Thorpe with three wrong-uns in a row then bowled him another three. Thorpe's patient 80 in three and a half hours was the an- tithesis of his usual style but valuable time in the middle after twin failures against Western Australia earlier this week. He contributed only four out of 59 in crawling from 23 to 27 and was caught behind off a George no-ball on 35. McIntyre finally bowled him off his pads with a stock ball that umpire Daryl Harper adjudged lbw before realising the bails had fallen. By then England was already 299 for eight and on the slide thanks to George's pre-emptive strike of 3-3 in 12 balls. George (4-114) fed Mike Gatting's cut shot before finding an edge after the stand-in skipper made 45 in an 85-run partner- ship with Thorpe. Former Victorian allrounder Craig White and wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes fell in George's next over and England was 281 for six. McIntyre got the wicket he deserved when Gough was caught at slip and then cleaned up the tail. Hick hit 15 fours and a six in amassing his second consecutive century, and his 79th in first-class cricket, following 172 against WA in Perth on Mon- day. The Zimbabwean-born righthander was out in bizarre fashion, treading on his wicket playing a short ball from Denis Hickey when the total was 186. When SA went out to bat after it was nought for one for the second time in as many days when Greg Blewett swatted at a rank bouncer from Darren Gough's fifth ball of the innings. Nobes de- cided the best form of defence was attack and he top edged hook shots over slips, turned extravagant cover drives into french cuts and twice pulled ferociously in reaching 50. John Crawley dropped Faull at square leg on 31 at 92 for one when the ball jolted out of his hands as he hit the ground. (Thanks : AFP) Contributed by R.Krishnan (rkrishna@garnet.acns.fsu.edu) ====> Day 3, 6 Nov 94 Brayshaw and Siddons deny England outright chance Jamie Brayshaw's 101 runs kept England at bay on a miserable third day in a tour cricket match at Adelaide Oval here Sunday. Survival was on everyone's minds - Brayshaw's place in the team was under threat, South Australia was trying to stave off outright defeat and England was shivering for six hours in an icy wind. South Australia batted through the day to finish at 415 for five in their second innings, an overall lead of 194 runs, with captain Jamie Siddons 100 and Tim Nielsen at 33 still at the crease. An England victory is now unlikely and the hunters may find themselves the hunted if given two sessions to survive on Monday's final day. Siddons reached his 24th first-class hundred off the last ball of the day with two runs from left-arm spinner Phil Tufnell. Brayshaw, 27, moved to Adelaide four years ago after failing to cement his place in the West Australia side. He realised his spot in the South Australia team was no longer a certainty and Sunday's knock was sorely needed. It was only his fifth century in 50 first-class games. The home side resumed at 116 for one but lost overnight batsmen Martin Faull (47) and Paul Nobes (72) in four balls with only 10 more runs on the board. Faull slashed a drive to third slip and Nobes swatted at a short ball outside off stump. For the next three hours it was survival first as South Australia took 78 overs to erase the first innings deficit of 221. Darren Webber fell leg before to Joey Benjamin for 49 just beforehand but the second new ball brought an increase in the run rate and England's worries. The usually-aggressive Siddons took 33 minutes and 26 balls to get off the mark but once in form there was no stopping him. His second 50 came off 44 balls and he had hit 13 fours and an all- run five from a straight hit which Tufnell had to chase from mid-on. Brayshaw stung Graeme Hick's hands at second slip to make it 316 for five shortly after tea, but that was England's last success as Siddons and Nielsen piled on 99 in better than even time. England's fielding is also a concern with three easy catches dropped in the first innings and two more sitters in the second innings. On Saturday John Crawley was slow to move to a bat-pad chance from Faull and the ball jolted free when he hit the ground diving. On Sunday Benjamin made a meal of a skied hook shot when Webber was 38 and South Australia 200 for three. One run later, Crawley put down a tough chance at short cover, again off Darren Gough. England has put down seven chances this match and Tufnell added to the fielding woes when a Nielsen drive went through his legs at mid-off for four. (Thanks : AFP) Contributed by R.Krishna (rkrishna@garnet.acns.fsu.edu) ====> Day 4, 7 Nov 94 England veterans Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch struck a blow for the older generation on Monday when they guided the tourists to a four-wicket win against South Australia. Chasing 260 for victory, England reached the target with just two overs to spare on the strength of telling contributions from their two most experienced players. Gooch, at 41 the oldest member of England's Ashes party, laid the foundation for an ultimately tense victory at Adelaide Oval with a fine 101, his second century on tour. After dominating the bowling during a 199-minute stay at the crease which featured ten fours, Gooch fell to a superb, diving leg side catch by wicketkeeper Tim Neilsen off the bowling of seamer Greg Blewett. Gatting, 37, who captained the side in the absence of Mike Atherton, who was rested, contributed a valuable 56, ending a dismal run of low scores since arriving in Australia last month. While the outcome was a welcome boost for the tourists, the nature of the victory must have caused some concern within the England camp. Few would have expected the match to remain evenly balanced until late on the final day after England reduced the home side to 21 for six during the opening session on Friday. After dismissing South Australia for 102, England amassed 323 in reply, including a century by Graeme Hick, to lead by 221 runs. But South Australia, inspired by captain Jamie Siddons, clawed their way back into the game, raising faint hopes of an unlikely win on the final day. Resuming at 415 for five in their second innings, South Australia failed to set a more imposing target when their final five wickets fell for 25 runs. Siddons added a further 21 runs to his overnight score of 100 before being dismissed by spinner Phil Tufnell, prompting his side's collapse. England pace bowler Darren Gough mopped up the South Australia tail with three wickets in a nine-over spell costing 31 runs, taking his innings figures to five for 143. Contributed by azzie (cs_alak@gsbvxb.uchicago.edu) ====> Day 4, more Ton-up Gooch guides England to victory The 41-year-old Essex opener clubbed 10 boundaries on the way to an innings of 101 as England chalked up their initial first- class victory on tour, achieving their 260-run target in a minimum 69 overs with two overs to spare. It was Gooch's second century on tour -- he cracked 50 in the first innings here -- to have him ripe for the opening Test exchange with Australia in Brisbane in three weeks' time. England, who dismissed South Australia for 480 earlier in the day, finished the day at 262 for six. Stand-in captain Mike Gatting scored 56 off 126 balls -- only 13 in the hour after tea -- but the runs came at a crucial time for the 37-year-old Middlesex fighter. Legspinner Peter McIntyre did not bowl to Gooch or Graeme Hick in the first innings but beat all the top batsmen Monday on a flatter, friendlier track than when he took 4-48 on Saturday. "It was good practice for our guys to see two of them and a lot of people spent a fair bit of time at the crease against them," England captain Mike Atherton said of the spinners. "McIntyre ran through the tail but I thought our top six looked in reasonable order against the spinners today. "To re- acquaint yourself with bowling you don't see a lot of in England is nice." South Australia captain Jamie Siddons was not convinced about England's ability to handle wrist spin, but acknowledged the visitors went into the match without Atherton and injured fellow opener Alec Stewart. However, Stewart's broken finger will also keep him out of the game against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on Wednesday, and possibly the New South Wales clash in Newcastle starting on Saturday. "Without Gooch and Gatting their batting doesn't look all that strong, especially against a good spin attack and good quicks," Siddons said. "(Shane) Warne will spin it twice as much as McIntyre, but I don't think a lot of those guys are going to play in the Tests." England drew against Western Australia in Perth last week and were headed for an easy victory after rolling South Australia for 102 on Friday. But a late order first innings collapse against McIntyre and South Australia's second innings 480 set up a tense climax. It looked like deja vu when Hick was lbw playing back to McIntyre for 32 and Graham Thorpe was caught at batpad off Matthew Minagall for eight to leave England at 94 for three in the 25th over. Opener John Crawley completed a miserable match with a pair to follow some substandard fielding. Crawley has made three first-class double centuries this year but was caught down the legside for a duck in Shane George's second over. He may yet open in the first Test if Stewart is still injured or has not found touch in time, but this match would hardly have been a confidence boost for the 23-year-old. England took the last five South Australia wickets for 25 runs Monday morning. Siddons topscored with 121 and Tim Nielsen made 52 in a sixth wicket stand of 139 before both fell in the space of three balls. (Thanks : AFP) Contributed by R.Krishnan (rkrishna@garnet.acns.fsu.edu)