WINNERS OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21733, 16 March 1936, Page 17

WINNERS OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP

LANCASTER PARK’S LONG HISTORY MANY MEMBERS PROMINENT IN THE GAME The success of Lancaster Park in winning the championship of Canterbury senior grade club cricket for the 1935-36 season will not only give pleasure to those who like to see sporting enterprise rewarded, but also gives the premiership to a club with an Outstanding record in Canterbury cricket for more than 50 years, and one that has contributed many notable personalities to the game. As this Is the first time the club has won the championship since it reverted to the name of Lancaster Park, and as the last time the Linwood Club won it was in the 1922*23 season, the team's success is all the more merited and praiseworthy. Briefly, the reason for the team s win is that more than its opponents it adapted its game to the conditions of club cricket, which demands fast scoring, a string of bowlers who can be relied on to take wickets on all pitches, and a leader who can force home an advantage once gained. In these three phases the team was far better equipped than others in the competition. In I. B. Cromb, the captain, R. J. Read, and S. J. Yates, it has a formidable battery of bowlers, who have taken wickets consistently .throughout the season; Cromb, P. Kerr, and; A. P. Cobden scored ’ plenty of runs, and what la even more important they scored them briskly. Valuable Leadership

But perhaps the most decisive factor was the captaincy of Cromb, whose qualities as a captain won him the leadership of the Canterbury and New Zealand sides. He brought to club cricket many of the virtues of the Lancashire League game—insistence on fast scoring by his batsmen,. continually dangerous bowling, backed up by keenness in the field, and the skilful use of the declaration, to give whenever possible the opposing side the use of the wicket when it was likely to assist the bowlers. If he had done nothing personally with either bat or ball, Cromb could look back on the season with unbounded satisfaction. Even apart from this, he was the outstanding player in the competition. So far this season he has played 11 innings, three of which were not but, In club cricket for 601 runs, giving him an average of a little more than 73. This is a remarkably fine performance, especially since Cromb, as caplain, has bad to adapt his play to the different circumstances in which the side has been placed. One of his most memorable performances, was in a match early in the season against East Christchurch, in which Lancaster Park was faced with the task of scoring 97 runs in 28 minutes to gain an eightpoint win. Cromb, Kerr, and Cobden among them put on the runs, finishing with a minute to spare, Gromb’s contribution being 38, not out. With his slow spin bowling, he has taken 39 wickets in club matches. Long Bowling Career Among the players which the club has contributed to Canterbury cricket, none is more worthy than Read, who was playing in the senior grade as far back as 1909-10, when he represented the East Christchurch Club. Omitting the 1910-11 season, for which records are not available, Head has taken the wonderful total of 1274 wickets in club games, at an average cost of only about 15.53 runs. In the 26 years in which he has been playing, club batsmen have taken (again omitting the one season) 19,767 runs from his bowling. but as batsmen playing to-day know well, they were hard-earned. Read’s medium-paced spinners, of almost perfect length, have claimed probably twice as many wickets as any Other bowler in club cricket In Christchurch has taken. After a few seasons with West Christchurch, and later with East Christchurch, Read joined Linwo'bd in 1913, and has played for. this club since then. The vast majority of his wickets have been taken for Linwood or Lancaster Park, and if there is any man who deserves well of his