ENGLAND'S last match of a long and sometimes frustrating winter was not so much a last hurrah as a last hiccup. Their defeat by New Zealand in the fifth one-day international, which enabled their hosts to level the series at 2-2 with one tie, was a very ungrand finale.
It is disappointing to end a largely successful tour of New Zealand with successive defeats, and they have been marked by a limpness of performance which reminded some of their 3-0 defeat by Zimbabwe. In this case, however, they have played enough good cricket in the past seven weeks to be forgiven.
However, if England are to have any chance in the 1999 World Cup they must find younger players with more all-round ability.
When New Zealand won the toss and batted, yesterday they appeared to have under-achieved by 20 to 30 runs. With 10 overs remaining they were 182 for four our and would have hoped to have reached 250. Once again Nath an Astle proved to be their premier one-day batsman, scoring his third half-century of the series.
This time, for the first time, he went on, scoring 94 from 129 deliveries before he fell in the 44th over. There was little support, however. Chris Harris scored 36 but the next highest scorer was Stephen Fleming with 18 and it was the New Zealand team who were seen shaking their heads with disappointment at their total of 228.
This was to prove more than enough, however. England's batsmen were once again becalmed by New Zealand's Dobber Army and only the last pair of Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick were capable of forcing the pace against a disciplined attack.
They were bowled out for 200. Graham Thorpe scored 55, but they came from 83 deliveries with just two fours. Atherton's 43 occupied 82 balls. Neither batsman looked capable of finding another gear when acceleration was required.
England had brought in Crawley for the injured Nick Knight and Jack Russell for Roni Irani. It was Russell's first international appearance on this tour of New Zealand and only his eighth day of cricket for England this entire winter. One willed this great competitor to win the thing. But England's batting was flat and uninventive throughout, betraying the mental weariness they must feel as they climb aboard their plane tonight.
. Australia wrapped up the South African resistance in an hour and a quarter on the final morning of the opening Test to record a crushing victory at the Wanderers, Johannesburg. In a match that will send shivers down the spine of England, who will battle Australia for the Ashes this summer, South Africa lost by an innings and 196 runs.
Australia go to the next Test on March 14th at Port Elizabeth with a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and the psychological edge of having scored a mammoth 628 for eight in the first innings that proved a mountain South Africa were never going to climb.
