Cricketer Of The Week:

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28180, 19 January 1957, Page 5

Cricketer Of The Week:

JN the Plunket Shield matches played so far this

season, a number of players have added to their reputations with high battling tallies and excellent bowling averages. Still others, while not distinguishing themselves by making consistently high scores or routing opposition batsmen, played important, although sometimes unobtrusive, roles in their games. The 20-year-old Canterbury opener, J. W. D'Arcy, did not produce the highest scores in Canterbury’s shield matches this season but the value of his -innings should not be measured entirely by the number of runs he scored.

On his form in club matches this season his selection for the Plunket Shield team appeared unwarranted. His play in the shield matches, however, fully justified the confidence the selectors placed in him. In his first game, against Otago, he not only made his highest score in first class cricket—l B«—but. more important, he provided the stiffening without which the Canterbury innings could well have wilted. Courageous His innings, apart from the number of runs he scored, was notable for another reason. In playing the short, high rising balls which J. R. Reid interspersed with the more orthodox deliveries, he proved that he has more than adequate courage to withstand fliers of the variety which had more seasoned players flinching. Reid paid his courage a great compliment when, observing his imperturbable demeanour,. he desisted from bowling short to him. On the Basin Reserve, a few days later, R. W. Blair, who took 14 wickets for Wellington, also learned that this stocky little figure was not to be cowerd by fliers. In the remainder of his innings in shield matches this season, he has only once passed’ the half century mark, but he has made consistent scores in these. He was 38 not out in the second innings of the Otago match and had other scores of 9, 20, 60, 31 and 13. D’Arcy is an all-rounder in sport, but from an early age he has remained faithful to his first love, cricket. He began his competition career when he captained the Waltham School team in the Saturday morning competitions and. before he left primary school he represented Canterbury in an under 14 team. His undoubted ability was soon discovered when he went to Christchurch Boys’ High School. He was 12 when he began his first year at the school and he

J. W. D'Arcy

was 13 when he was selected for the First XI in his second year. He remained in the First XI, as an opener, until he left school in 1952. He completed that season playing second grade cricket for the Old Boys’ club and entered senior ranks the next season. When the season ended he had the eighth highest average of 22.08 in his team.

The 1954-55 season was not very kind to him. but last season he scored 153 runs in shield games and was seventh on the list of club averages with 40.7 runs in 10 innings. Before entering first grade cricket D’Arcy met with considerterbury’s Brabin Shield side in cricket. He first played for Canterbury’s Brabin Shiled side in the 1952-53 season when he was 16 and played each year until last season. He was considered extremely unlucky to have missed the Australian tour with last season’s Brabin Shield side. Recognition His capabilities as a batsman have been recognised on at least four occasions by the Canterbury Cricket Association. For four years in succession he was awarded the Cowan Prize for the best batsman under 21. Last year he shared this award with B. A. Bolton, another opening batsman who has partnered D’Arcy in high school, club and representative cricket. In one way, Canterbury’s loss in not having A. R. Mac Gibbon’s services in the first four shield matches, has also been Canterbury’s gain for had Mac Gibbon been available, D’Arcy, who had originally been chosen as twelfth man for Canterbury in the Otago game, might well have been lost to Canterbury this season.