Lives in Cricket No 45 - Brief Candles 2

48 Number 11 Two happy batsmen after their unbroken stand of 154: Neville McDonald (left) and Kevin Martin. felt that number 11 in the order was the right place for him in this side’s batting line-up. He had no complaints: ‘I was the only new cap in the side’ - but when pressed, he reluctantly conceded that ‘maybe I could have batted slightly higher’. I’ll say! After the excitement of the big partnership, and the excited press coverage that it naturally received, the game followed a predictable course until its final afternoon. Griqualand West were bowled for 198 in their first innings (Desmond Schonegevel 79 not out), and Natal ran up a quick (for the time) 223 for seven in their second innings before declaring. Despite Kevin’s success in the first innings, there was no question of either he or Neville McDonald being promoted up the order in the second innings; that was not the way it was done in those days. Griqualand West were thus set 349 to win in what turned out to be 124 overs. At 197 for nine it looked all done and dusted, but Schonegevel again proved a stumbling-block, adding an unbeaten 87 for the last wicket with number 11 Harry Lubbe, whose 15 not out more than doubled the number of runs scored in the previous five innings of his first-class career. Schonegevel ended on 138 not out. After this, you’d expect there to be some triumphant details to record of Kevin’s bowling; after all, that was the part of the game for which he had been selected. But of the 213 overs bowled in the Griquas’ two innings, he bowled just 11: 9-4-13-0 in the first innings and 2-2-0-0 in the second, in both cases as the sixth bowler tried. It wasn’t that his batting feat had tired him out; he puts his lack of opportunity with the ball down first to the strength of the team’s bowling generally; second to the nature of the wicket (‘like bowling on concrete’), and third to the fact that his captain - a