Description

The moment of reckoning has arrived; after months of hectic and hurried preparations, the Reliance Cup ’87 has reached its final stage. This is the fourth tournament of its kind, the previous three having been very successfully staged by England. One aspect of this tournament, as far as team strengths go, is the absence of some of the top one-day players whose performances might have made a difference for their sides. This absence did not, however, take away any of the competitiveness and excitement of the tournament, but might just have
depleted the glamour.If we are to take an alphabetical assessment of the teams with regard to the players who are missing from their ranks we must start with the Australians. The most surprising
omission from their line-up is that of
that effervescent all-rounder from New
South Wales, Gregory Richard John
Matthews, a man who enjoys his cricket,
well apart from taking all three
departments of it jolly seriously. And
his omission is, surprisingly, courtesy
the Aussie selection committee,
apparently on disciplinary grounds.
The Australians also missed the quick
scoring abilities of Hughes, the accuracy
of Rodney Hogg and the very ‘noisy
wicketkeeping talents of Tim Zoehrer,
or even Wayne Phillips who has
repeatedly proved his consistency with
the bat