Cricket: Crowe ruled out of Tests

Australia 398 and 323-1 dec

New Zealand 419-9 dec and 166-4

Match drawn

MARTIN CROWE, the New Zealand captain, is unlikely to play any further part in the Test series against Australia because of damaged ligaments in his right knee.

Crowe batted on, despite severe pain, to save the first Test in Perth yesterday and was due to fly home today for an exploratory operation. He is expected to be sidelined for up to four weeks, which will almost certainly rule him out of the remaining two Tests in Hobart and Brisbane. 'I feel the best thing is to get the surgery done and get back as quickly as possible,' said Crowe, who guided the tourists to a credible draw in a tense final session. Ken Rutherford has taken over the captaincy, while Chris Harris and the uncapped Richard de Groen have been added to the tour party.

Crowe was undefeated on 31 not out as New Zealand laboured to 166 for 4 at stumps, chasing a daunting target of 303 in a maximum of 65 overs. Grimacing repeatedly with pain, he limped between the wickets throughout a vital 132- minute stay at the crease.

Australia, who began the day on 218 for 1, added another 105 runs off 21 overs before Australia declared just before lunch. Mark Taylor and David Boon plundered unbeaten scores of 142 and 67 respectively.

New Zealand crumbled to 145 for 4 after tea, but Crowe and the spinner Dipak Patel, who made 18, survived the final hour before both captains settled for a draw seven overs before the scheduled end.

New Zealand won toss

AUSTRALIA - First Innings 398 (I A Healy 113no, M A Taylor 64, P R Reiffel 51, S R Waugh 44; Cairns 4-113).

NEW ZEALAND - First Innings 419 for 9 dec (A H Jones 143, C L Cairns 78, M D Crowe 42; McDermott 3-127, Reiffel 2-75, McGrath 2-92).

AUSTRALIA - Second Innings

(Overnight 218 for 1)

M A Taylor not out 142

D C Boon not out 67

Extras (lb6 nb9) 15

Total (for 1 dec) 323

Bowling: Morrison 25-5-80-0; Patel 39-4- 144-1; Cairns 1-0-12-0; Su'a 20-0-71-0; Pocock 2-0-10-0.

NEW ZEALAND - Second Innings

M J Greatbatch c Healy b McDermott 0

B A Pocock c Healy b McGrath 28

A H Jones lbw M Waugh 45

* M D Crowe not out 31

K R Rutherford lbw S Waugh 39

D N Patel not out 18

Extras (lb1 nb4) 5

Total (for 4) 166

Fall: 1-0 2-66 3-85 4-145.

Bowling: McDermott 13-3-40-1; McGrath 16-6-50-1; Reiffel 7-2-25-0; M Waugh 6-4- 17-1; Warne 13-6-23-0; S Waugh 7-2-10-1.

Man of match: A H Jones (New Zealand).

The West Indies had to seek safety in the centre of the pitch for a total of 41 minutes as spectators among the 50,000 crowd fired crackers and pelted them with stones and plastic bottles during the one-day international against India in Ahmedabad yesterday. The first interruption, lasting 22 minutes, began when the tourists had taken six wickets for 55 runs.

ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL (Ahmedabad, Ind): West Indies 202 for 7, 50 overs; India 100, 28.3 overs. (Winning target adjusted to 169 runs from 38 overs after play disrupted).