Date-stamped : 20 Aug95 - 22:25 Tour Match: TCCB XI v Young Australia Edgbaston, 17, 18, 19, 20 August 1995 ====> Day 1, 17 Aug 95 McIntyre makes a rapid impact - Peter Deeley First day of four: Young Australia (158-6) trail TCCB XI (191) by 33 runs YOUNG Australia encountered an Edgbaston wicket reminiscent of the notorious pitch for the West Indies Test six weeks ago for the final game of their tour. Sixteen wickets on the first day - half of them to spinners - tells of a batting nightmare and the tourists may not be happy playing their prestige representative match in such conditions. On a sun-baked dust bowl, some deliveries appeared to go through the top and leg-spinner Peter McIntyre was turning the ball con- siderably before lunch. Glamorgan`s Hugh Morris, captain of the TCCB XI, had to go to hospital after being hit on the left thumb by a ball lifting off a length from the medium pace of Shaun Young. X-rays showed no break but considerable soreness and the Welshman came back at the fall of the seventh wicket to stay to the end, hitting ten boun- daries in his gallant 47. David Capel and Australia`s Matthew Hayden were hit on the helmet and both sets of batsmen seemed disconcerted by the unpredictable lift from deliveries which disturbed the surface. While Capel was changing his headgear the umpires consulted, from their gestures apparently discussing the state of the pitch. But McIntyre, at least, was enjoyed the conditions with his first five-wicket haul of the tour. Hayden and Martin Love put on 66 runs inside 14 overs and the pitch seemed to hold no fears for them. But things changed with the introduction of the in-form David Capel, who grabbed three wickets in the space of 18 balls. Love was leg before and Justin Langer appeared to get a ball that popped as he went through his drive, Butcher taking an athletic catch at short extra cover. Then Capel exuberantly took a return catch from Hayden. Doubts created by the prodigious amount of turn must have crept into the tourists` minds, reinforced by Ricky Ponting`s dismissal as he pushed forward to Robert Croft, only for the ball to spin back onto the stumps. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 2, 18 Aug 95 Gilchrist puts powerful case - Peter Deeley Young Australia (258 & 36-1) bt TCCB XI (191 & 101) by 9 wkts THE not-quite-the-flower of English cricket was mown down in under two days yesterday, as much by the vagaries of a sub- stan- dard pitch as by the rampant Young Australians. In five sessions, containing 160.5 overs, 31 wickets went down - 15 to spinners - and Adam Gilchrist, the tourists` wicketkeeper claimed 10 victims. When Ian Healy retires, Gilchrist looks a man fitted to slip on the Australian senior gloves. But how can you judge someone`s worth when the ball is going through the surface and turning square on the first day? Enthralling it may have been for the spectators, but this was little more than a farce. Still it does square one debt: when England A went to Australia in 1992-93 they were refused a true representative match and most games were not even rated first class. This one carries that designation when it was played on a second-rate pitch. The Test and County Cricket Board, being technically the host side, curiously find themselves in the dock over this latest debacle. The umpires reported the pitch as being unfit and the board`s pitches inspector, Harry Brind, came up yesterday morning to have a look at the guilty strip. Young Australia finish their tour with a record of five wins in eight first-class games, two draws and one defeat (by Leicestershire). Stuart Law, the only batsman in the game to pass 50, played an innings of high quality and Robert Croft became the second spinner in the game to take five wickets. The board`s second innings began with Jo Angel claiming two wick- ets in his first over and ended with Peter McIntyre claiming three in five balls - two stumped by Gilchrist. One was Hugh Morris who, from the way he walked down to McIntyre, seemed to be passing his own comment on the pitch. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)