CRICKET OTAGO LEADS ON FIRST INNINGS

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28161, 27 December 1956, Page 8

CRICKET OTAGO LEADS ON FIRST INNINGS

Otago won an interesting and hard-fought struggle for the first innings lead on the second day of the Plunket Shield match with Canterbury at Lancaster Park yesterday, but there does not seem much likelihood of an outright decision being reached today. At the close of play Canterbury, 229 and 58 for one wicket, led Otago, 265, by 22 runs.

Yesterday the main individual contributions came from B. Sutcliffe, with a pleasant and composed innings of 73, the colt, A. E. Dick, who scored 41 in his first shield innings, and from J. C. Alabaster, whose rearguard action helped Otago through an anxious period. But in the main it was the mid-afternoon cricket, when the first innings decision was in the balance, which demanded the closest attention.

There was again a good attendance, and the gate takings, including a proportion of ground membership fees, were £4OO, making a total of £765 for the first two days.

The teams are:— Otago: J. R. Reid (captain), B Sutcliffe, S. N. McGregor. W. S. Haig, A. E. Dick, E. A. Watson. N. R. Thompson. J. C. Alabaster. B Allan, T. Flaws, and F. J Cameron. Canterbury: R T. Dowker (captain), J. W. D’Arcy. M. B. Poore. P. G. Z. Harris. M. E. Chapple. S C. Guillen, G. N. Gearry, B. M. J. Dineen. D. L. Gallop, I. McK. Sinclair, D. J. Reid. Although Canterbury added only 22 to its first day score of 207 for eight wickets, the brief story of the close of the innings held one purple passage. At 214 Sinclair stopped himself in the act of going for a big hit and was easily caught at slip. When J. R. Reid bowled a maiden, to Dineen, and exposed D. J. Reid at the other end, the innings seemed to be expiring gently, but D. J Reid achieved a single from the first ball of an over from Alabaster, who on the first day had held the batsmen fast. Dineen forced Alabaster away for 2, then straight hit him for 4 Two balls later he made the most handsome stroke of the match so far—a square cut for 4 of undeniable elegance, the stroke delayed then hastened to give it the effect of a whip-lash. Dineen cover drove the last ball for 4, another lovely stroke, and the over yielded 15 runs. D. J Reid was out next ball, when J R Reid bowled a ball which lifted a little and left the batsman. Canterbury batted for five hours for its 229.

Canterbury’s opening bowling was not very effective, and Sutcliffe and McGregor soon wore an air of complacency. But at 32. McGregor did not make a stroke at the first ball bowled by Sinclair, and it came back and bowled him. Sinclair bowled around the wicket presumably in an effort to find the large patches worn on the first day by Cameron’s energetic follow-through. Occasionally the ball bit or skidded through from these patches, but they were too wide of the stumps to be very effective. Sutcliffe and Haig

In partnership with Haig. Sutcliffe added 83 for the second wicket, and neither batsman was troubled by the limited Canterbury bowling. Sutcliffe made no error at all until he got himself out, and although there was only an occasional hint of the cricketing cavalier of a few years ago. he batted with calm purpose and. being Sutcliffe, could not but make his runs attractively. His drives and cuts flowed easily from his bat, and there seemed no reason at all why he should not bat on indefinitely. Chapple and Poore held him in check, but they ■would probably concede that Sutcliffe made no real effort to attack them. Sutcliffe batted two hours, and it was good indeed to see him playing so easily and so well.

His innings ended unnecessarily. As Gallop’s arm came over Sutcliffe moved far down the pitch, but the ball was very short and wide, and he was atumped by a considerable distance.

Haig, less gifted than Sutcliffe, nevertheless played a fine innings, and he was one of the few batsman who seemed able to score runs at a reasonable rate from Chapple. The dismissal of J. R. Reid was a tremendous success for Canterbury. He chased a ball from Chapple pitching outside his off stump and going away a little His overthrow sent Otago from 100 for one to 136 for four and put the match back in the balance That was the score at lunch, and in the critical period which followed Gearry did his best bowling of the day. Dick, a Brabin Shield representative at the tender age of 14, made an impressive beginning to his first-class career. He had difficulty for a while with Poore, from whom he scored only a single in six overs, but he then broke the spell with some strong on-drives. Dick appears to be a very good front of the wicket player, with the confidence to hit the ball hard. Costly Mistake

Dick and Watson had to struggle very hard for their runs, and at 154 Dick, then 18, was dropped by Chapple at slip off the first ball of a spell by Sinclair. It was a grievous mistake for Canterbury, by a fieldsman with particularly good hands. But Gearry dismissed Watson, and with five wickets standing Otago needed 69 runs to lead. Of these, 24 were made by Dick and Thompson, another batsman new to shield cricket. Dick made far the better impression for although a reluctance to take risks could be understood at such a time, and by so inexperienced a batsman. Thompson did not profit by the loose balls bowled to him. He allowed Gallop to settle down to a length, because of his excessive caution.

Thompson batted nearly an hour for his seven runs, and it was Alabaste* and Allan, two more shield novices, who saw Otago through. Alabaster is a forthright batsman, and he hit hard at everything which allowed the liberty. When Allan joined him. Otago still needed 29 runs, with three wickets in hand, but they made no race of it. Again the Canterbury new ball bowling was below standard, both' Gearry and Reid dropping the: ball too short. By tea, Otago was] two ahead, and a last-wicket partnership of 31 by Flaws who I cut effectively, and Cameron, a

strong driver, rubbed salt in this Canterbury wound. Canterbury Bowlers

D. J. Reid started only moderjately well, but was given little (bowling. Gearry h-'d plenty to do, (but was not at his best except for . one fine spell after lunch, when (he took one for 10 in nine overs. ! His lift and swing with the old I ball were admirable, and on thel strength of this effort his final figures were deserved. Sinclair was a little disappointing, with his lack of consistent length 'Chapple did an excellent job for Canterbury by keeping one end tight, and his control of direction and his little turn from leg were assets indeed.

Poore had the unhappy experience of bowling all but one ball of his first seven overs to Sutcliffe, but he. too. kept the batsmen tightly in check and he was even less expensive ’•than Chapple. The most interesting of the bowlers, however, was undoubtedly Gallop, the young leg-spinner whose selection was certainly not justified by his performances in club cricket. He did enough yesterday. however, to lend at least some justification to the optimism of the selectors. He is a genuine leg-break bowler, and he has confidence. for after he started wretchedly with two full tosses and a wide, he beat J. R. Reid with the first .ball he bowled to him. It would be idle to sugges’ that Gallop bowled as well as his figures might suggest he did. bui to take three wickets on his first appearance was triumph indeed There were times when he should have been punished severely, but there were some good ones which did not take wickets. Otago’s 2G5 runs were made in 311 minutes, after a run-a-minute start for the first 100. and Canterbury, too, began briskly. In the last hour. 58 runs were made, most of them by Poore, who played one of his best representative innings. He was definitely assertive, and Alabaster, who had dictated to the batsmen throughout the first innings, had 14 taken off two overs by Poore, and was temporarily retired. Poore was disconcerted by J. R. Reid’s bouncers, and finally pushed a shortish ball into the hands of sillv mid-on. but otherwise he played beautifully—raking cover drives, hooks, cu f s, all as graceful as one could wish. An all-out assault by the bats(men this morning, or a complete i Canterbury breakdown, seem necessary if the match is to be completed, but the pitch is showing some signs of wear, and in the final seven hours much could happen—provided both teams retain a really keen interest in affairs. The umpires are Messrs L. C. Johnston and B. Vine. Scores: —

CANTERBURY First Innings J W. D’Arcy, b Cameron .. 85 M. B. Poore, c Watson, b Alabaster . • v 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 ■ • • ■ 3 G. Gearry, c Flaws, b Cameron .. ■- * * BM. J. Dineen, not out .. 27 D. L. Gallop, c Flaws, b Cameron .. .. 0 I. McK Sinclair, c Watson, b Alabaster . ■ • • 7 D. J. Reid, c Flaws, b Reid . 1 Extras (byes 5, leg-byes 4, wide 1, no-balls 5) 15 Total .. ..229 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 for 190 (D’Arcy), eight for 198 (Gallop), nine for 214 (Sinclair), 10 for 229 (Reid). Bowling O. M. R. W

W. S. Haig .. 5 3 3 0 Reid bowled five no-balls. Watson four, and Haig a wide. Second Innings J W. D’Arcy, not out .. 18 M. B Poore, c Cameron, b Reid .. 38 B. M. J. Dineen, not out .. 0 Extras (bye 1, leg-bye 1) 2 Total for one wicket 58 Bowling

OTAGO First Innings B. Sutcliffe, std Guillen, b Gallop .. 73 S. N McGregor, b Sinclair .. 9 W. S. Haig, c Guillen, b Gallop 34 J R. Reid, c Guillen, b Chapple ..10 iA. E. Dick, b Chapple .. 41 j E A. Watson, c Harris, b I Gearry .. 8 N. R. Thompson, lbw, b j Gearry .. 7 J. C. Alabaster, c Dineen, b Gearry .. 32 18. Allan, lbw, b Gearry .. 12

T Flaws, c Poore, b Gallop .. 13 F. J. Cameron, not out .. 18 Extras (byes 3, leg-byes 2, wides 3) 8 Total .. .. 265 Fall of Wickets.—One for 22 • McGregor), two for 115 (Haig), three for 124 (Sutcliffe), four for 136 (Reid), five for 161 (Watson), six for 185 (Dick), seven for 201 • Thompson), eight for 233 (Allan), nine for 234 (Alabaster), ten for 265 (Flaws). Bowling O. M. R. W.

F. J. Cameron .. 24 8 45 3 B. Allan * .. 16 7 26 1 J. R. Reid .. 22.1 7 40 1 J. C. Alabaster .. 37 16 75 5 E. A. Watson 12 6 25 0

O. M. R. W. J. R. Reid 7 1 24 1 B. Allan 3 3 0 0 E. A. Watson 1 0 5 0 F. J. Cameron 8 4 6 0 J C. Alabaster .. 1 15 0 W. S. Haig 2 1 6 0

D. J. Reid 9 1 36 0 G. Gearry . 25 ~ 57 4 1 Sinclair . 13 2 43 1 M. E. Chapple . 30 12 49 2 M. B. Poore . 22 13 0 D. L. Gallop 15.5 4 41 3 Gallop bowled pie one. two wides, Chap-