Cricket: Moxon fights hand injury

England A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 and 225

South Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .308-8 dec and 70-3

South Australia win by 7 wickets

MARTYN MOXON, the England A captain, has a hand injury and is struggling to play against New South Wales in Sydney, beginning on Thursday.

He badly bruised his right index finger after being struck by a sharply rising ball from the South Australia fast bowler Damion Reeves in scoring 62 on Sunday. Unfortunately, it was the same finger he broke playing for Yorkshire at the start of last season.

Moxon watched England A slump to a seven-wicket defeat at the Adelaide Oval yesterday before admitting he had only a 50-50 chance of playing in the next match. Moxon has not had a happy time on recent tours. He suffered a broken hand playing for England A in Bermuda a year ago, which resulted in Hugh Morris taking over as captain and Moxon flying home.

'We're not thinking about X- rays. I'm confident it's only bruising,' said Moxon, who has been plagued by injuries to his hands throughout his career.

Dominic Cork (knee) and Graham Thorpe, whose elbow was struck by a fierce shot by Ashley Hammond yesterday, are expected to be fit for Thursday.

Peter McIntyre's leg spin helped skittle England's second innings for 225. McIntyre took 6 for 43 to leave South Australia a simple 70-run target for victory.

Peter Such, England's most successful bowler on tour, threatened an unlikely victory with three wickets in 16 balls of accurate off-spin. That raised his overall tally to 19, but it was too little, too late for England who never recovered from the first day when they were bowled out for 152.

(Final day of four: England A won toss)

ENGLAND A - First Innings 152 (D Reeves

4-57).

SOUTH AUSTRALIA - First Innings 308 for 8 dec (J D Siddons 74, D Webber 55; D J Capel

4-72).

ENGLAND A - Second Innings

(Overnight: 136 for 6)

] R C Russell b McIntyre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

D G Cork lbw b McIntyre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

D J Millns c Nielsen b McIntyre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

M C Ilott not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

P M Such c Hammond b McIntyre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Extras (lb8 w1 nb4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225

Fall (cont): 7-140 8-180 9-207.

Bowling: Reeves 18-2-54-0; Wigney 17-7-21-1; Hickey 16-2-38-1; Sleep 37-13-61-1; McIntyre 29-13-43-6; Brayshaw 1-1-0-13.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA - Second Innings

G S Blewett st Russell b Such. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

A Hammond c Middleton b Such. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

J A Brayshaw b Such. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

D Webber not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

] T J Nielsen not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Extras (lb1 nb6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Total (for 3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Fall: 1-29 2-34 3-41.

Did not bat: * J D Siddons, P R Sleep, D Reeves, D J Hickey, B Wigney, P McIntyre.

Bowling: Ilott 10-3-22-0; Millns 4-1-11-0; Such 10.4-2-36-3.

Umpires: D Harper and G Robinson.