CRICKET Canterbury Bats Slowly In Plunket Shield Game

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28160, 26 December 1956, Page 8

CRICKET Canterbury Bats Slowly In Plunket Shield Game

After an encouragingly healthy and defiant roar at the start, Canterbury’s batting on the first day of the Plunket Shield match with Otago yesterday became little more than an apologetic cough. The outfield at Lancaster Park was extremely fast, and in the first hour and three-quarters Canterbury, on a good pitch, scored 100 for one wicket. About three hours later, when play ended for the day, this total had been increased only by 107, and seven more wickets had fallen.

Without J. W. D’Arcy, who opened and was seventh out for 85, Canterbury would have been in an even worse position. He played with most admirable determination against bowling which, from one quarter, was distinctly hostile. He held the stage for Canterbury, while J. C. Alabaster, the leg-break bowler chosen for last season’s tour of Pakistan and India without shield experience, made a most successful debut.

But by and large, it was not colourful nor particularly attractive cricket. The blustering north-west wind made conditions difficult and unpleasant for the bowlers and for the crowd of about 3000. The gate takings were £322, and with a proportion of the ground membership fees added, reached about £365.

The teams are:— Otago: J. R. Reid (captain), B. Sutcliffe. E. A. Watson, T. Flaws, S. N. McGregor. B. Allan, F. Cameron. J. C. Alabaster. W. S. Haig, N. R. Thompson and A. E. Dick, with G. D. Alabaster twelfth man. Canterbury: R. T. Dowker (captain), S. C. Guillen, P. G. Z. Harris. B. M. J. Dineen, J. W. D’Arcy. M. E. Chapple. M. B. Poore. G. N. Gearry. D. L. Gallop. D. J. Reid. I. McK. Sinclair, and B. A. Haworth twelfth man.

Otago’s bowling had.much to commend it, but there was no mistaking the lack of body about the batting brew. It was extraordinary to see a leg-break bowler like Alabaster with two fieldsmen set close on the leg side and another at mid-on, with noone deeper on the on side than that. W. S. Haig, who bowls amiable offbreaks. had a silly mid-off. with no fieldsmen between backward point and mid-off —a measure of the batting mediocrity. B. Allan, a left armer of medium pace and apparently without much late movement through the air, had a ring of four close leg fieldsmen even at the end of the afternoon.

Alabaster was clearly not easy to get at. for he dropped the ball persistently on an awkward length, and his ability to make the ball lift a little was a consideration which obviously did not escape the attention of the batsmen. But only the lefthander Gearry was sufficiently bold to use his feet and make some effort to upset Alabaster’s dictatorship. Whatever deficiences there were in Canterbury's display—and batting is the side’s strength, on form and reputation—D'Arcy could hardly be faulted. He wore the mantle of J. G. .Leggat comfortably, and it was as well that he was included in the final 11. for fears that Canterbury might need a sheet anchor batsman were shown to have a substantial basis. D'Arcy does not have a great range of strokes, and his limited back lift greatly reduces his ability to score in front of the wicket on the off side. But D'Arcy is determined, and he can concentrate, qualities more valuable by far than pretty and profitless shots. Yesterday he scored most of his runs with on-drives, by forcing the ball away off his toes, and with glances. He did not flinch or falter under the close examination of Reid’s bumpers but got in behind the ball as though dedicated to the task of giving Canterbury a good start. D’Arcy batted four hours for his 85 runs, and had only one life. At 80 he could have been stumped off Alabaster. Poore, who opened with D’Arcy, batted attractively for three-quarters of an hour. The first few runs scored all came from inadvertent deflections, but Poore later made some effortless cuts and glances and a square drive for 4 off Cameron which was cricket poetry. Watson caught him beautifully at slip, to give Alabaster a wicket with his first ball in a shield game. Harris, who helped D’Arcy add 69 for the second wicket, was obviously worried by Reid’s fliers, a concern Reid recognised and aggravated. He bowled two or three in most overs and Harris often had to take hurried evasive action. When Reid came off. however, Harris’s innings began to flourish and he made some drives of regal quality, as well as scoring off gome no-balls by Watson in a very businesslike manner. Harris has played many better innings, but his struggle to regain confidence will be won.

Chapple and Guillen Fail Chapple and Guillen, both in fine form this season, failed. Guillen was greeted by a venomous bouncer from Reid and looked startled. He made a tremendous effort to hit Alabaster but did not get on to the shot and was caught and bowled. Chapple persistently walked into his stumps to play Alabaster, and yjas out after 45 minutes’ batting, during which he had seemed destined for a valuable innings. His ability to wait for the loose ball and to hit it hard could have told later —had he survived. The captain, Dowker, attempted to exploit the lack of leg fieldsmen for Alabaster, and was meeting with some success when he flicked, not for the first time, at a ball outside the off stump. Gearry looked likely to restore Canterbury’s waning fortunes, for he reached his 17 in as many minutes, but then spent a similar period without adding to his total. A cover drive for 4 he made off Alabaster was a heartening blow, in an over which cost 10 runs—a tickle through slips for 2, a hefty pull for 4. The 19-year-old Gallop stayed in nearly 20 minutes, but Dineen, also in his first game, looked perhaps the most capable of the Canterbury batsmen. In B difficult situation, he batted slowly, but with considerable assurance and no little elegance. He seems to fit immediately into the Plunket Shield scene.

That Otago finished the day in so favourable a position was remarkable. It was a very trying day. Canterbury got away to a flying start, and in midBfternoon, when the score was 140-odd for two. it seemed that the bowlers would suffer before the end. It was during the partnership between D’Arcy and Chapple that Otago regained control, and the team retained it with a fine display of tenacious, accurate bowling. How the side would have fared had the batsmen offered a spirited attack half-way along the line is a matter for conjecture only, but In the 40 minutes before tea, a stage at which Canterbury was admirably placed to take the offensive, only 17 were scored. After the interval, two hours was taken to add 72 more, a painstaking process and not a very profitable one.

Alabaster, the leading contender for b place as a spinner in the 1958 team for England, lived up to his reputation tor accuracy. His little bit of lift was b valuable asset, and there was a suggestion of top-spinners in the haste whlch the batsmen sometimes naa to play their strokes. Alabaster bow led intelligently and diligently, and had all the batsmen heavy with “ did Seem that a Quickbatsman could have got to him toere were occasions efforts to hit him straight and warr ? nt ed, if only to break the fielding chain about the bat. tbe day Reid was the most hostile bowler by far He went . E£ U laz lilJfan old cricke"lag varying his pace and point

of delivery with the cunning of a confidence trickster, then applying his bumper as a cosh if the prospective victim stood fast. Reid’s energy and eagerness remain with him and he unsettled most of the batsmen with his short-pitched deliveries. In his first spells Cameron looked very ordinary but in the late afternoon he bowled most ably. He was then far more lively and accurate, and in 11 overs took three wickets for 19, a contribution which maintained Alabaster's break-through and extended it. He ended D’Arcy’s fine innings with a ball which came back a little, D’Arcy playing outside it. Watson bowled all but one ball of his first seven overs to Harris, and although his no-ball habit gave Harris 15 runs, Watson kept an end quiet, valuably. Allan, in his first representative match, was steady enough most of the time, but he bowled badly when he used the second new ball in the last 15 minutes of the day. His direction then was sadly at fault. Haig was steady too, but he was flattered somewhat by the batsmen.

The Otago fielding was of a good standard, and although Flaws missed a stumping chance, he kept wickets very capably. The umpires are Messrs B. Vine and L. C. Johnston. Scores:—

CANTERBURY First Innings J. W. D’Arcy, b Cameron .. 85 M. B. Poore, c Watson, b Alabaster 22 P. G. Z. Harris, c Haig, b Allan 34 M. E. Chapple, lbw, b Alabaster 13 S. C. Guillen, c and b Alabaster 0 R. T. Dowker. c Flaws, b Alabaster 8 G Gearry, c Flaws, b Cameron .. 17 B. M. J. Dineen, not out .. 11 D L. Gallop, c Flaws, b Cameron 0 I. McK. Sinclair, not out .. 6 Extras (byes 2, leg-byes 4, no-balls 4, wides 1) .. 11 Total for eight wickets .. 207 Fall of wickets: One for 49 (Poore), two for 118 (Harris), three for 146 (Chapple), four for 148 (Guillen). five for 160 (Dowker), six for 189 (Gearry). seven fur 190 (D’Arcy), eight for 198 (Gallop). Bowling O. M. R. W.

Reid and Watson each bowled four no-balls. Haig one wide.

DEBUT IN SHIELD CRICKET

NORTHERN DISTRICTS 190 FOR FIVE

WICKET NO HELP TO AUCKLAND

(New Zealand Press Association) HAMILTON, December 25. Two left-handers dominated the scoring in Northern Districts first innings on the first day of the Plunket Shield match against Auckland at Hamilton today. J. K. Everest, an experienced opening batsman who played for Auckland with a good deal of success in the last two seasons, top-scored with a sound 69. compiled in 178 minutes. The 21-year-old D. J. Gray, playing in his first shield game, was not out at close of play with 54 Everest hit eight fours and seven threes.

Northern Districts finished the day with 190 for five wickets. The best partnerships were those of 56 by Everest and B. N. Graham for the first wicket and 50 by Everest and Gray for the third.

Conditions were decidedly in favour of the batsmen. The wicket gave the bowlers no assistance and the outfield was fast. The first 50 was scored in 58 minutes, but the scoring rate was retarded by the slower attack of G. O. Rabone and D. Taylor, who kept the batsmen pinned down.

In the circumstances, Auckland performed well to restrict Northern Districts’ scoring for the afternoon to under 200. The bowling was steady and the fielding keen and alert. Rabone’s well-flighted bowling was remarkably economical. He bore the brunt of the attack by delivering 29 overs, which included 15 maidens. Seven of the maidens were in succession.

H. Moyle, of the opening bowlers, was not particularly impressive early in the afternoon, but in a later spell he produced a very good ball which he brought back to dismiss N. Puna. Scores:—

NORTHERN DISTRICTS First Innings J. K. Everest, lbw, b Dunn .. 69 B. N. Graham, b Rabone .. ..16 J. L. Wyatt, b Taylor .. .. .7 D. J. Gray, not out .. .. 54 P. H. Smith, c Dunn, b Hambrook .. 14 N. Puna, b Moyle .. .. ..18 E. C. Petrie, not out .. .. 1 Extras .. .. ..11 Total for five wickets .. 190 Bowling.—H. Moyle, 17 overs. 8 maidens. 26 runs, 1 wicket: T. S. Hambrook. 12, 4. 18, 1: R. Harris. 9. 2, 26. 0; D. Taylor. 21, 6. 51, 1; G. O. Rabone. 29. 15, 39, 1; E. F Dunn, 11, 4. 19, 1.

F. J. Cameron .. 24 8 45 3 B Allan .. 24 7 26 1 J. R. Reid .. 19 5 38* 0 C. Alabaster .. 34 15 59 4 E A. Watson .. 12 6 25 0 W S. Haig . .. 5 3 3 0