ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA 1977

At Manchester, June 2. England won by two wickets. England survived two run out muddles to win the opening before a crowd of 15,353. It looked like being more comfortable win until the fifth wicket pair Barlow and Greig, who added 52 in ten overs were both run out in the of three balls from Pascoe.

Greig who pushed the ball just in front of him, started to run, checked and then could not regain his ground before Pascoe, following though quickly, had thrown down the stumps. Barlow's dismissal was even more bizarre. He started for a second run for a leg glance, was rightly sent back by Knott and was so lackadaisical that Marsh had time to gather Malone's throw, take deliberate aim and hit the wicket at the bowler's end with Barlow still wandering about with his back to the ball.

This put needless pressure on later batsmen, who found themselves having to make 45 from the last four wickets. Luckily some cheerful hitting by Old and commonsense play by Knott saw them though but England, who dominated play almost from the start, should never have got themselves into such a mess.

Marsh was named man of the match, not primarily for his dismissal of Barlow but for his typically belligerent innings which brought him 42 runs off 31 balls. He hit Lever for two 6's and four 4's in nine balls, recalling his onslaught on Gifford in the 1972 test match on the same ground. Otherwise only Chappell with 30 and the patient Serjeant with an innings of 46 spanning 37 overs offered much resistance after the openers had for gone for a single apiece. Greig accounted for Serjeant and Hookes in one over to reduce Australians to 94 for six before Marsh ensured that his bowlers would have a more defendable target. Receipts £22,830.