"Chattel" Hayes Still A Notable Cricketer

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28430, 9 November 1957, Page 5

"Chattel" Hayes Still A Notable Cricketer

rpHE wicket-keeper looked critically at his ungloved hands. They showed remarkably little evidence of the man’s occupational hazards, save for the middle finger on the left hand, which was not straight. “That happened two years ago,” the wicket-keeper said. "There was a chance of a run-out, and the ball came back like a bullet, but it was a bit wide. I dived for it, but I had forgotten to replace a spring on my left boot and that was what made me go over and injure the finger.” It is not uncommon for wicketkeepers to suffer injury, and it is not strange for them to make spectacular dives for the ball when the need arises. But it is remarkable when the wicketkeeper is 65 years old. for this one is “Chattel” Hayes, one of the most colourful characters in Canterbury cricket. Now, at 67, Hayes is still keeping wickets* for the West Christ-church-University club, in the president’s grade. He looks as trim as a boy, as immaculate as an advertisement. The enthusiasm for cricket which took him into the Canterbury team nearly 50 years ago burns as brightly as ever. - Nickname Chattel Hayes—his curious nickname comes from a remark he made in his school days, when his headmaster was giving a lesson on care of personal property—has the strangest record of any representative cricketer. He entered senior Cricket in 1909-10 as a member of the Sydenham club, and played for Canterbury in the same season. In the 1912-13 season he made a brilliant 125 in a Plunket Shield match against Auckland, but after that his appearances for the province, if quite numerous, were spasmodic. The explanation gives an insight

into the determination and eagerness for cricket of Chattel Hayes. Selected in the first instance as a right-hand batsman, he lost form and was dropped. But his fielding was of such brilliance that for one season the Canterbury team carried him, lack of batting form and all. But he was dropped again, only to re-appear a little later as a fast-medium bowler—and a good and successful one at that. Alternative In his final period of Canterbury representation, Hayes was the wicket-keeper; his bowling could no longer command a place, so he tried the only position left. Here too he was an outstanding success. That was 30 years ago. and he has been wicket-keepirfg ever since. Since the First World War, he has been a member of the West Christchurch club, this season combined with University. But Hayes’s contribution to Canterbury cricket still goes .on. For a good many years he has been the masseur to whom Canterbury players have brought their strains and sprains and worries. Against a background of lamps and liniment, those who have sought advice have been given it, and there are many to testify to its soundness. All-Rounder During his war service days, Hayes was an exceptionally talented boxer, quick and evasive, and he was a distance runner of some note, once winning a mile at Halswell in 4min 28sec, but his interest in athletics had to be sacrificed to his enthusiasm for cricket. He played with some of Canterbury’s greatest, and now, in a grade where the level of achievement varies considerably, he is the same likeable, dry, good-natured man, every inch a cricketer.