CRICKET PLUNKET SHIELD MATCH

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26299, 19 December 1950, Page 10

CRICKET PLUNKET SHIELD MATCH

CANTERBURY’S GOOD PROSPECTS GAME wiTH OTAGO (By COVER POINT) Canterbury’s prospects of winning its flr»t Plunket Shield match of the season, against Otago, must be considered fairjy good and, it appears at this stage that the game might well turn on the ability of the Canterbury team to dismiss B. Sutcliffe quickly, or alternatively keep him quiet enough, and away from the bowling enough, to get rid of Otago for moderate scores. The match will begin at Lancaster Park on Friday. There are many familiar faces in the Ctago team, notably A. W. Roberts. G. H. Mills, and the captain, L. D. Smith. Other members of the team who have played at Lancaster Park with success in more recent years are G. W. F. Overton, who did the hat-trick on his first appearance at the park, D. S. St. John, S. N. McGregor, and L. A. Watt. Considerable interest will be taken in the first appearance in Christchurch of A. M. Moir, the clever right-hand spin bowler who was largely responsible for Otago’s first innings win last season. There are a number of useful batsmen in the Otago team, but Sutcliffe seems the only one likely to make a really big score against Canterbruy’s fast bowling, Canterbury's three pace bowlers, A. R. MacGlbbon, J. A. Hayes, and J. D. Aiderson, should give the province the best prospects it has had since the war of dismissing opposing teams for small scores. Otago's bowling, on paper at any rate, does not look quite so strong. Overton is reported to have lost form, although at his best he is a very fine bowler. F. W. Stanley, the only member of the team new to first-class cricket, is the fastest bowler in the team, and his club performances have been encouraging, E. Watson is a medium-paced righthander capable of slowing the game up, but the chief Otago hope will be Moir. Roberts, presumably, will be called on to do some of the bowling, and both Smith and Sutcliffe are useful slow lefthanders. The Otago fielding may be patchy; even by modern standards, the team seems a little elderly. If Canterbury’s bowlers find the form expected of them, they will make a strong combination, especially with T. B. Burtt, the best slow bowler in New Zealand, to do most of the work at one end. Presumably Alderson will be used as a stock bowler, with Hayes and MacGlbbon being nursed to maintain fast bowling from one end most of the time. Five of the other 13 players named can be classed a* change bowlers, and of them, R. W. G. Emery seems the most likely to be used for the brief spells which should be necessary.

Canterbury has plenty of batsmen capable of making runs, but few likely to score really heavily. Eight of the team are young players, and there is an absence of solidity in the batting which may come with experience. Two players have to be dropped for the Otago match and the choice will not be easy. On recent performances the most likely candidates are M. B. Poore. A. Burgess, and P. Z. Harris.

The teams are:— Otago.—L. D. Smith (captain), B. Sutcliffe. G. W. F. Overton. A. M. Moir, G. H. Mills. D. S. St. John. L. A. Watt, J. D. Blakely, S. N. McGregor, F. W. Stanley, A. W. Roberts, and E, Watson. Canterbury.—J. G. Leggat (captain), R. W. G. Emery, R. T. Dowker, A. R. MacGibbon, J. A. Hayes, M. B. Poore, T. B. Burtt, P. Z. Hgrris, A. T. Burgess, J. D. Alderson. N. Bennett, W, A. Hadlee, and G. Anderson.