CRICKET Season’s Fastest Century Made By A. R. Mac Gibbon

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28159, 24 December 1956, Page 8

CRICKET Season’s Fastest Century Made By A. R. Mac Gibbon

A. R. Mac Gibbon, the New Zealand all-rounder, was the centre of attention twice at Hagley Park on Saturday. when the fifth round of matches in the senior championship was completed. First it was with his batting—he made the fastest century of the season, for Old Collegians against Riccarton—then with an injury which has forced his withdrawal from the Canterbury Plunket Shield team. Mac Gibbon’s century was the greatest of some fine personal achievements. J. Kiddey made 82. W. Bell 58. and W. Muncaster 51—his second half-century of the match —all for Riccarton, in a day which produced more than 500 runs. G. T. Dowling (West Christchurch) again batted well for 76. F. B. Smith (Old Boys) added nine to reach 58. and for the same team W. A. Hadlee scored 68. D. L. Gallop made 55 and G. Fraser 50 for Sydenham.

T. D. Gibson, the Old Collegians pace bowler, took three more wickets and finished with 7 for 34, and A. G. Duckmanton, of Lancaster Park, -took

fix for 36. Results were:— Riccarton 252 and 161 for three wickets beat Old Collegians 151 and 260 for eight wickets, declared, by seven wickets. St Albans 132 and 175 for seven wickets beat Sydenham 74 and 138 for seven wickets by 58 runs on the first innings. Old Boys 272 for eight wickets, declared, beat East Christchurch 104 and 77, by an innings and 91 runs. Lancaster Park 249 and 83 for four wickets, declared, beat West Christchurch 180 and 98 for seven wickets by 69 runs on the first innings. St. Albans retained its three-point lead over Lancaster Park, but now nine points, instead of 14, cover the top six teams. Competition points are: St. Albans 30, Lancaster Park 27, Riccarton 26, East Christchurch 21, Old Boys 21, Cid Collegians 21, West Christchurch 11, Sydenham 3. ST. ALBANS v. SYDENHAM <132 and 19/1) (74) D. L. Gallop, a surprise selection for the Canterbury Plunket Shield team, played a large part in preventing St. Albans from gaining an outright win over Sydenham. He took four wickets in St. Albans second innings and batted very well to make 55 not Obt. The St. Albans second innings was mainly a quiet affair, but there was some quick scoring after lunch by J. Smith, P. Z. Harris, and M. B. Poore both played innings marked by the scoring and fine strokes. All the batsmen treated Gallop with respect, and he gave an encouraging performance, although some of his victims were caught from full tosses. The Sydenham second innings was nearly wrecked at the start by K. J. McNicholl. who bowled D. Wilson and D. O'Malley with successive balls. The position was retrieved slightly by F. Rice and G. Fraser, but the scoring almost stopped. This was partly due to the reluctance of the batsmen to take any risks and to the fine bowling of McNicholl and Poore. McNicholl bowled 15 overs before tea to a field of four slips, a leg slip, two silly mid-ons and two silly mid-offs. After tea the scoring was again very slow, although it quickened a little when Gallop came in. The first 50 took two hours. Fraser was unlucky to be out when a bumper from McNicholl, which he was trying to avoid, struck his bat and he was brilliantly caught by G. Leggat. Gallop hooked McNicoll to the boundary several times, and he began to score quite freely. Scores.— ST. ALBANS First innings .. .. .. 132 Second Innings (19/1) G. Leggat, c Burgess, b Gallop 19 P. Z. Harris, lbw, b Gallop /. 47 S. C. Guillen, c Falloon b Gallop .. 6 M. B. Poore, st. Pearce, b Burgess .. 43 J. Smith, c Wilson, b Gallop .. 37 N. Penlington, c Wilson, b Burgess .. 12 T. B. Burtt, not out .. 4 Extras (byes 6, leg-byes 1) ..7 Total (for seven wickets declared) .. .. .. 175 Bowling: J. Harliwich, 12 overs, 3 maidens, 33 runs. 1 wicket: A. T. Burgess. 2,0, 33, 2; D. L. Gallop, 20, 6, 59. 4; B. Salt, 8, 3. 19, 0; R. Thompson, 7,1, 24, 0. SYDENHAM First innings .. ..74 Second Innings D. Wilson, b McNicholl 0 A. Burgess, c Guillen, b McNicholl 7 D. O'Malley, b McNicholl .. 0 F. Rice, b Poore .. 10 G. Fraser, c Leggat. b McNicholl .. 50 B. Salt, lbw, b Burtt .. ..2 N. Falloon, b Poore .. .. 3 D. L. Gallop, not out .. ..55 A. Pearce, not out .. .. 1 Extras (byes 5, leg-byes 4. wides 1) 10 Total for seven wickets 138 Bowling: K. J. McNicholl, 25 overs. 7 maidens, 63 runs, 4 wickets; M. B. Poore, 23, 18, 11, 2; T. B. Burtt, 17, 6, 19, 1; D. Starke, 8, 3. 13, 0; G. G. Coull, 5,3, 9,0; P. Z. Harris, 6. 3, 13. 0. EAST CHRISTCHURCH v. OLD BOYS (104) (122/4) Giving an even more inept display of batting than on the first day. East Christchurch was beaten by an innings. On the two days the East Christchurch batsmen were in for 370 minutes, and in that time lost their 20 wickets for 146 runs, against bowling which did not more than exploit the East Christchurch fetish for the two-eyed sance. The danger ©f this batting practice, which has been condemned by the experts, was fully exposed by bowlers able to pitch the ball about the off-stump and sometimes move it away. The batsmen almost without exception, were without an answer, strokeless and run less.

Earlier, W. A. Hadlee had given a reminder of the glories of off-side strokes when he and C. G. Snook had added 99 for Old Boys’ sixth wicket in 41 minutes. Hadlee, thirsty for runs, fairly flew at the ball, and he made his 67 in under the hour with some glorious strokes. Snook, in very good form this season, contributed some tremendous hits and the New Zealand off-spinner, I. Sinclair, was subjected to the indignity of 49 from seven overs. L B. Cromb had 38 from three and S. M. Betty, strangely, had only seven overs. When East Christchurch batted again the most interesting feature was the bowling of B. M. J. Dineen, who had only one previous over for the team this season. Although he is of the mediumpace type Old Boys have in numbers, he moved the ball very late and came through quickly. The umpires were Messrs R. Liddicoat and J. Gover. Scores:— EAST CHRISTCHURCH First innings .. .. . . 104 Second Innings J. Capstick, c Britton, b Reid .. 10 A. Barron, b Franks .. ..12 B. Haworth, b Reid .. 14 I. B. Cromb, c Dineen, b Reeves .. 7 1. McK. Sinclair, b Franks .. .. 1 C. Hazeldine, run out .. .. 1 W. Black, c Snook, b Dineen .. 1 J. Grocott, not out .. 4 R. Pannell, c D’Arcy, b Dineen .. 4 S. M Betty, b Snook .. 6 T. L. Jones, c Britton, b Snook .. 0 Extras (byes 10, leg-byes 4, noballs 3) .. .. ..17 Total .. .. .77 Bowling.—D. J. Reid. 12 overs, 5 maidens. 19 runs, 2 wickets: C. G. Snook, 4,2, 8,2; G. J. Franks, 10, 4. 19, 2; B. M J. Dineen. 8. 5. 7, 2; J H. Beeves, 6. 5. 2, 1; B. A. Bolton, 3,1, 5. 0. OLD BOYS First Innings (122/4) F. B. Smith, run out ..58 W. A. Hadlee, c Jones, b Cromb .. 68 C. G. Snook, c Cromb, b Barron .. 44 ; ▼ Reid . not ..18 J- W. Reeves, b Barron .. 6' G. J. Franks, not out 0 Extras (byes 2, leg-byes 3, wide • 1. no-ball 1) .. 7 elght w *ckets (dec.) 272 I A 15 overs « 2 maidens, I ZS*? A ~Barron. 13. 6, 32, 2: Mck. Sinclair, 30. 7 10 3-1 n I &omb. 19, 4. 78, 1; S. M. Betty, 7, T. |

OLD COLLEGIANS v. RICCARTON (151) (168/6)

Riccarton. nearly always an enterprising team, deserved its win, if only for the classic example it gave of how a team should set about the task of scoring against the clock. The Old Collegians' declaration gave Riccarton 90 minutes to score 160 runs, in a poor light. Although A. R. Mac Gibbon could not take the field, the pace bowling of J. H. Dawson and T. D. Gibson presented twin problems—they both made the batsmen most uncomfortable with short-pitched rising balls, and the time they took to bowl their overs increased the difficulty of Riccarton’s task.

But Bell and Muncaster did not make the mistake of trying to hit everything to the boundary. They weathered the fast bowling storm, and when the pace men had to be rested, they attacked the slow bowlers furiously. In the last 15 minutes Gibson and Dawson w’ere brought back, but they could not regain contrdl and the winning hit was made from the third ball of the day's last over. There was much good batting in this game, with 505 runs scored in 360 minutes. First. J. Kiddey and R. H. Scott consolidated Riccarton’s position with a partnership which reached 112 runs in an hour and a half. During the morning Kiddey scored 55 runs in 47 minutes, and for the first time this season his swift driving and cutting and strong hooking were seen in their best light. Scott played an invaluable innings and with Kiddey gave his side a lead of 101.

Gibson, out of form earlier in the season, took three more cheap wickets to finish with seven for 34, a very fine performance. He bowled at a very lively pace, moved the ball away well, and maintained control well.

Old Collegians* second innings was based on Mac Gibbon’s superb century, reached m 78 minutes. This made his tally in two matches 243 for three times out, and his batting was magnificent. Before the end the bowlers were sorely puzzled as to where to put the ball, and it was a matter, for them, of trial and persistent error. Mac Gibbon fairly hammered the ball through the covers, drives of daring swiftness which defied interception and left behind, like an echo, their impression of power and grace.

Mac Gibbon also hit strongly on the leg side, and with P. C. Sheppard contributing some disdainful, daring hooks, the partnership provided 100 runs in 46 dazzling minutes, 133 in all in 68 minutes. Only Scott and Kiddey could maintain any sort of law and order, for later D. W. Crowe hastened the declaration with some bold hitting for 34. Riccarton started its second innings quite slowly, and 130 runs were needed in the last hour. In the early stages Dawson bowled particularly well, keeping the ball up, but when he dropped it short both batsmen were hit and they had some narrow escapes. The swing began with a clean cover drive for 4 by Bell off Gibson, and 30 were made in the first 20 minutes of this last dramatic hour. With 100 needed in 40 minutes, it seemed all over for Riccarton, but the next 15 minutes gave the side 50 runs and it was then that Dawson was brought back. Almost immediately, Muncaster pulled a full toss high and fine, O. A. Hutchinson running back to take a fine catch. Muncaster and Bell had scored 112 in 49 minutes, a magnificent performance. Five minutes later Bell was well caught in the deep by Crowe, after making 58 in 54 minutes; then Kiddey hit Gibson high over the hedge and when the last' qver began Riccarton needed two runs. Kiddey drove a single, then Scott turned the third ball off his hip for 2 and the biggest crowd Hagley had known at such an hour for a long time dispersed, satisfied and talkative. The umpires were Messrs H. Borland and T. Hastings. Scores:— OLD COLLEGIANS First Innings .. .. .. 151 Second Innings R. T. Hunt, b Ackland .. .. 0 F. J. Shaw, lbw, b Kiddey .. 0 M. J. Moffat, c Scott, b Kiddey .. 21 P. C. Sheppard, b Scott .. 49 A. R. Mac Gibbon, lbw, b Ackland .. 125 G. L. Perry, lbw, b Scott .. .. 2 J. C. Saunders, b Kiddey 6 D. W. Crowe, c Dawson, b Kiddey .. 34 O. A. Hutchinson, not out .. .. 13 T. Gibson, not out .. 0 Extras (byes 3, leg-byes 5, noballs 2) .. .. ..10 Total for eight wickets dec. 260 Bowling.—J. Ackland, 17 overs, 1 maiden, 86 runs. 3 wickets; J. Kiddey, 17, 3, 57, 3; W. Bell, 11, 0 70, 0; R. H. Scott, 10, 1, 37, 2. RICCARTON First Innings (168/6) R. H. Scott, b Gibson .. .. 48 J. Kiddey, b Gibson .. ~82 E. Fuller, lbw, b Gibson .. .. 0 J. Ackland, not out 0 Extras (byes 17, leg-byes 2, wides 4, no-balls 2) .. 25 Total (one short) .. .. 252 Bowling.—A. R. Mac Gibbon, 23 overs, 9 maidens, 67 runs, 0 wickets: J. H. Dawson, 11, 3, 27, 1; G. L. Perry, 10, 2, 28, 0; D. W. Crowe, 8,2, 27, 1; J. C. Saunders, 15, 3, 44, 0; T. D. Gibson, 14.1, 4, 34, 7. Second Innings L. J. Newman, b Dawson .. .. 15 W. E. Muncaster, c Hutchinson, b Dawson .. .. 51 W. Bell, c Crowe, b Gibson .. .. 58 J. Kiddey, not out .. ..16

R. H. Scott, not out .. 4 Extras (byes 13, leg-byes 4) .. 17

Total for three wickets .. 161 Bowling.—T. Gibson, 9 overs, 0 maidens, 39 runs, 1 wicket; H. Dawson, 10, 0, 48, 2; G. L. Perry, 3,0, 17, 0; D. W. Crowe, 2,0, 20, 0; J. C. Saunders, 2,0, 20, 0. LANCASTER PARK V. WEST CHCH. (249) (49/3) A superb bowling performance by the Lancaster Park spin bowler, A. G. Duckmanton, and a meticulous innings of 76 runs by G T. Dowling, the West Christchurch batsman, were the notable features of an otherwise dull day’s play which resulted in a first innings win for Lancaster Park.

Continuing its first innings. West Christchurch collapsed before the persistent accuracy and cunning of Duckmanton, and only Dowling and M. Stewart made any worth-while contributions to the score. Starting quietly, but gradually gaining in confidence. Dowling in 220 minutes of concentrated and determined batting averted what would have been a complete capitulation. Although he survived three chances, his protracted innings, which ‘included nine fours, was invaluable and probably saved West Christchurch from an innings defeat. Stewart, the second last batsman in, also helped to restore some respectability to the innings with a carefully compiled 25 runs. Duckmanton’s well-controlled spin, mixed with an occasional wrong ’un, constantly bewildered the batsmen, and few were able to score off him. In nearly 30 overs. 16 of which were maidens, Duckmanton conceded only 36 runs, and took six wickets without any assistance from the fieldsmen. M. E. Chapple's wily slow bowling accounted for another three batsmen at the cost of 44 runs. Lancaster Park batted briefly in its second innings, but lost no time in adding another 83 runs to its first innings lead of 69. Chapple, who with Duckmanton had added 36 very quick runs, declared half an hour after tea leaving his side 90 minutes to dismiss West Christchurch to gain an outright win. Batting in a failing light, and requiring 152 runs. West Christchurch accepted this sporting chance to snatch an unexpected victory, and started with the obvious intention of trying for a win. G. N. Gearry and J. L. Williams opened and attacked vigorously from the outset, but the combined speed and stfin onslaught of R. Prouting and Duckmanton soon had both batsmen in trouble.

Williams, after a. glorious hook to the square leg boundary, attempted to repeat the shot, and delivered an easy catch to Dowker. Gearry struck out aggressively. and assisted by J. Park set a fast scoring rate. He was dismissed for 18 runs after being beautifully trapped by Duckmanton. Park, with quick well-run singles from short off-side snicks, maintained a steady pace until he was run out. For a while L. Scott and B. Sullivan remained on the offensive, but tight bowling and keen fielding gradually reduced the scoring rate until it became apnarent that the necessary runs could not be made in the short time left. The umpires were Messrs J. Owen and H. Moore. Scores:— WEST CHRISTCHURCH First Innings 49/3 G. T. Dowling, c Smart, b Chapple .. 76 G. K. Austin, lbw, b Chapple .. 15 R. J. Hudson, b Duckmanton .. 9 G. N. Gearry. lbw. b Duckmanton .. Q L. Scott, b Prouting .. .. 0 D. Giblin, b Duckmanton 7 M. Stewart, c Prouting. b Duckmanton 25 A. White, not out 4 Extras (byes 4, leg-byes 7, wide .. .. .. .. 12 Total .. .. .. 180

Bowling.—R. Prouting, 21 overs, 6 maidens. 41 runs, 1 wicket; J. Saunders, 8, 5. 13. 0; M. E. Chapple, 23, 8. 44. 3; A. G. Duckmanton, 29.4. 16. 36. 6; B. Irving. 12. 9. 11. 0; R. T. Dowker, 1,0, 4,0; G. Smart, 10, 3, 19, 0.

Second Innings G. N. Gearry, c and b Duckmanton .. 18 J. L. Williams, c Dowker, b Prouting 4 J. Park, run out .. .. 18 L. Scott, lbw, b Chapple .. .. 22 A. White, b Chapple .. .. 0 B. Sullivan, not out .. .. 19 M. Stewart, c Duckmanton, b Walters 0 D. Giblin, c and b Royfee .. 1 R. J Hudson, not out .. .. 0 Extras (bye 1, leg-bye 1) ..2

Total for seven wickets .. 93 Bowling.—Duckmanton, 12 overs, 3 maidens. 31 runs. 1 wicket: Prouting, 8, 2. 29, 1; Chapple, 7. 2. 13. 2; Smart. 2, 1 6. 0; W Walters, 3,2, 2,1: B. Irving. 2,0, 5. 0; Dowker, 1,1, 0,0; G. E. Royfee. 1,0, 4. 1.

LANCASTER PARK (249) Second Innings G. E. Royfee. b White .. ..13 B. Ellis, c Scott, b Stewart .. 17 R. S. Coop, c Gearry, b Stewart .. 0 M. E. Chapple, not out ..20 R. T. Dowker. c Stewart, b White .. 6 A. G. Duckmanton, not out .. 16 Extras (byes 5, wide 1) ..6

Total for four wickets declared 83 Bowling.—M. Stewart, 11 overs. 2 maidens, 36 runs, 2 wickets; A. White, 12, 2, 37, 2; G. N. Gearry, 1,0, 4, 0.