Canterbury Cricket Still Relies On Same Old Bowlers

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 86, 12 April 1941, Page 6 (Supplement)

Canterbury Cricket Still Relies On Same Old Bowlers

r I A HE main feature of the season's cricket averages is A the evidence they again afford of the consistency of the province's leading bowlers.

Those names at the top have a familiar ring— Mcßac. of Lancaster Park; Roberts, of Riccarton; Mulcock, of St. Albans; ('romb, of Lancaster Park; Graham, of Old Boys; Bull, of Riccarton. and so oil. For the pasi five or six seasons, they have been either leading 01 among the leaders.

Only Reg Read is missing, missing, that is, from the front-rankers, but he lias been doing a lot of effective work, nevertheless, and will very likely be as deadly as ever next season. Players such as he form the backbone of crir-ket.

D. X. Mcßac. the tall Lancaster Park left-hander, who tups the howling averages for senior club cricket this season in t'hristclmrch, has taken 150 wickets for his side in the past four

ordinary. His figures are worth sc-; ting out in detail as Mulcock to-day i acclaimed by good judges of cricket men not afraid to give credit where it is due, as the outstanding trundlei of the South Island. Certainly, few, if any, can compare ' with him for that combination of hos- ; tile skill and pertinacity that is so • liable to bring the whole of an opposi ing side to the verge of complete col- ! lapse when they least expect it. I The rhythmic grace of his action is ! worth watching, even when he is not 1 getting wickets—and that is rare j enough. It is significant that leading Service cricketers from other centres, who have been playing in the Canterbury competition, bracket Mulcock and i Cresswell (of the Army team) as the best bowlers of those they have had to operate with or against. Ilere are Mulcock's figures: Runs. Wkts. Aver. 1937-38 967 58 16.50 1938-39 736 45 16.35 1939-40 899 61 14.73 1940-41 1027 70 14.67 To go back a year further—Mulcock took sixty-five wickets in the 1936-37 season. Another very determined and able bowler who has been well to the fore

years, a fine example of consistency, plus ability to produce sensational results against strong opponents. 11 is figures are: Runs. Wkts. Aver. 1937-38 345 34 10.14 1938-39 445 32 13.90 1939-40 482 24 20.08 1940-41 697 60 11.61 Then there is A. W. Roberts, who ■would probably double his annual bag of wickets if he felt disposed to keep ■himself on longer, or if he brought himself on more often to clean up the tail-enders. This season, for instance, he sent down 166 overs, while young Moynihan, whom the Canterbury iselector recognises as a highly-promis-ing batsman, actually sent down 205 overs for his particular club, West Old Boys.

But it is purely a matter of policy. In any case, Roberts has obtained ithirty-six wickets, making his total for :the past four seasons, 122. As in representative games, his best work has Tseen accomplished in breaking up ■early partnerships when they might be ibecoming awkward.

E. Mulcock, seventy wickets at 14.67, ihas an aggregate of 2-34 for the past ifour seasons—something out of the

as usual is H. R. Escott, the Old Boys' stocky left-hander, well known in winter as a Rugby referee. This season,

Escott obtained fifty-four wickets, his largest capture since coming up to senior ranks. His total for the past four seasons is 129. George Bull, of Riccarton, also deserves to be complimented on his forty-three wickets, and fourth best average. There is no more courageous trier in the competition. Best All-rounder. I. B. Cromb, once again the most successful all-rounder that Canterbury can produce, made 659 runs and took fiftynine wickets, in addition to leading his Lancaster Park eleven with characteristic enterprise and force. Four seasons ago, when one-day cricket was first tried out —and Park won under his captaincy—Cromb also made over 700 runs and took fifty wickets. Cromb appears to have the robust and adventurous temperament best suited to the quick shifts of fortune in one-day cricket. He takes the rough with the smooth, and goes ahead as a good cricketer should. This is in marked contrast with some, here nameless, who appear to resent one-day cricket, spend half their time complaining, and, like spoiled children, fail to get the best out of it. Fortunately there are fewer now on the scene than there were four years ago. The majority have learned to jump into things—set a proper example not only by Cromb, but by others such as Hadlee, Anderson, O'Brien, Donnelly, Dalley, Moynihan, and company. However, this is mainly about bowling and bowlers. M. Graham, of Old Boys; J. D. Mackay, of Air Force: P. H. T. Alpers, Old Collegians; M. Johnston, West Christchurch: and T. Burtt, of St Albans, arc other familiar names. Hard To Replace.

low. Are there others in sight who appear to be capable of taking their place ?

That might appear an over-pessimistic outlook, but, quite apart from war condition?, it has been apparent for some time that such stalwarts as Mcßae, Roberts, Mulcock, Cromb, and Graham are going to be exceptionally hard to replace when the time of retirement comes. What kind of an attack would Riccarton have next, season without

Roberts; or Lancaster Park without Cromb and Meßae: St Albans without Mulcock ? Who can be named as the next stock bowlers for Canterbury? The bleak, truth is that the crop of young bowlers coming on in Canterbury is not good enough. There are one or two of merit, of course, but even they require expert coaching to develop their powers up to Plunket Shield standard. And as batting depends to a large extent on the quality of the bowling in the province, even for practice, some improvement is essential. Otherwise much of the high scoring in certain club games is merely flattering to the batsmen and no more. What were they up against?

After noting the performances of all these ten or eleven players and recalling the burden carried on their capable shoulders year after year, one must own to an uncomfortable feeling that without them the standard of senior eleven bowling would be desperately

Both Wellington's recent victories over Canterbury pointed to the same conclusion. What will be wanted here when the war is over is a Coaching School for Young Bowlers. The present loose method of bringing them on haphazardly and hoping for the best has proved a hollow failure long ago. Below are the leading club averages for the season which has just closed: —-

Batting. Ins. NO. H.S. Tl. Av. V James 19 6 106° 813 62.54 P. B. Smith 9 3 104* 354 59.00 C. J. Oliver 17 4 128- 743 57.15 M. P. Donnelly 17 1 133° 901 56.31 W A. Hadlee 18 1 149 940 55.29 C. V. Walter 20 2 112 827 45.94 D. Moynihan 20 1 117 818 *3.0^ A Burgfiss 16 4 103* 502 41.83 I B. Cromb 18 2 137* 650 40.60 T. Kennedy 19 1 I's 730 -iO.So W. McD. Anderson 16 2t 96 551 39.3 a A. W. Roberts 18 1 146 640 37.64 M. Graham 10 7 38* 108 „ £6.00 R. McKenzie 20 2 105 646 *.88 WC. Dc"»y 21 2 93 672 *..-6 J 1,. KcfX 18 4 86* 487 .M.78 K. P. mtley 19 3 104 547 34.18 J. Smith 19 2 74* 572 33.64 jr. Way 13 9 32* 134 33.50 O. H. Stringer 17 2 79* 494 32.93 C. G. Hamilton 18 2 110* 512 32.00 J. C. Saunders 21 0 88 672 32.00 * Not out. i Retired hurt once. Bowline. O. M. R. W Av. D. N. Mcßae 203.7 42 697 60 11.61 R. Westwood 132.4 20 430 34 12.64 A. W. Roberts 165.7 34 457 36 12.69 G. A. Bull 108 3 565 43 13.13 7{. R. Escott 303.5 78 783 54 14.50 S. Mulcock 279.3 32 1027 70 14.67 M. Johnston 173.1 24 620 42 14.75 t B. Cromb 185.2 15 882 59 14.94 A. E. Cresswell 217.6 24 788 50 15.76 M. Graham 250.2 55 704 44 16.00 J. D. Mackay 139.3 9 600 37 16.21 T. B. Burtt 181.7 18 758 45 16.84 T. C. Fraser 71.1 0 389 23 16.91 D. Moynihan 204.7 33 814 47 17.32 L>. A. Moloney 63.3 278 16 17.37 r. Kennedy 81.4 2 437 25 17.48 P. H. T. Alper* 229.7 38 877 50 17.54 M. Lohrey 173 13 677 37 18.29 \. H. Cutler 110.3 13 472 25 18.88 C V. Walter 94 13 494 26 19.00

The boys were slightly embarrassed over file bruises which speckle the gorgeous carcase —2"m pounds —of young Buddy. Particularly that left lamp. That's quite a thermometer. A \ cry fair shiner.

It sc-etns that Buddy, or Jacob, as his parents called him. got restless a couple of weeks ago and decided he needed a tune-up. 'T want to light," s:\id young -lake. "I don't blame you," said Max, gnashing his teeth. '"I. too, am getting bloodthirsty." "I'd like, to kill somebody. just to keep in trim," said Jacob. "I feel the same way." said Max. scowling at a kitten which happened to pass by. "I guess T will go down town and sign up to fight somebody right now," said Buddy. "How about you?"' '"Well," said Max, edging toward the nearest fofa, "I am bloodthirsty, but not quite that bloodthirsty. You go ahead. After you have killed your man T will come, around and shake hands with you. That should be enough exercise for this week. I don't want to overdo it. After all. 1 walked down to the corner yesterday and bought a packet of cigarettes."