CRICKET DOUBLE CENTURY TO REID

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28489, 20 January 1958, Page 12

CRICKET DOUBLE CENTURY TO REID

Otago Declares: 365 For Nine

"The Press” Special Service DUNEDIN, January'l9, A magnificent double century to the Otago captain, J. R. Reid, during which he unmercifully hammered the Canterbury bowling, was tfie outstanding feature of the second day’s play in the Plunket Shield cricket match between the two provinces at Dunedin yesterday.

Reid, 94 not out at the end of Friday’s play, went on to score 201 before he fell to a fine catch at deep long-on by R. C. Motz off the bowling of M. B. Poore when he was attempting to hit the sixth 6 of his innings. He was at the wickets for 266 minutes, scoring 22 4’s and five 6’s, and he saw the total go from three wickets for 30 runs to eight for 336.

Reid declared Otago’s innings closed at 365 for nine and when rain halted play at 3 o'clock Canterbury was fighting back and the openers, J. W. Guy and J. W. > D’Arcy, took the total to 48 without loss. Play commenced in fine weather yesterday but later in the morning rain clouds appeared and there was one heavy shower 20 minutes before lunch was taken. Throughout the afternoon, showers became more frequent and bowlers of both teams had to face the additional handicap of using a wet ball. The original handicap faced by Canterbury’s attack—the more or less lifeless wicket—became Otago’s headache when the home side took the field. Reid’s innings completely dominated the scene. He did not give a chance but was more certain yesterday than-he was on the first day's play. Under the conditions the Canterbury bowlers had to face, it was almost impossible to restrict his scoring or to set a defensive field capable of cutting off boundaries.

So much was Reid in command that when M. E. Chapple took the new ball after Otago had passed the 200 mark, both Motz and A. R. Mac Gibbon bowled well wide of the off-stump to the Otago captain and qsed only one man in the slips. It was a tactical move in an effort to preserve the

shine on the ball in order to attack the remaining Otago batsmen. Reid was ably backed by his partners in this battle of vzits and cheeky singles were stolen with a view to giving him the bowling. Much of the polish disappeared from the ball when he hooked a full *toss from Motz on to the shingled part of the ground’s terraced embankment. First Success Canterbury had its first success of the day when E. A. Watson was caught behind by Guillen off the bowling of W A BeIL Watson had scored 57 in 214 minutes and had been the man mainly responsible for holding Otago’s innings together when Motz broke through early during Friday’s play. Watson and Reid had taken the score from three wickets for 30 runs to 196 before Watson was dismissed. In the meantime. Reid had hoisted his first century after 125 minutes at the wickets. Canterbury captured two more wickets before lunch. First, M. McEwan was “yorked” by a faster ball from Motz with his total on 6 and with the last ball before lunch Mac Gibbon had G. H. Mills trapped with his legs in front of a ball which came back eff the wicket. Otago at this stage was six down for 247. Ten minutes after the resumption, Canterbury had farther success when G. D. Alabaster caught A. McK. Moir off the bowling of Poore. Seven were down for 260 but Reid and J. C. Alabaster then almost annihilated the attack with an eighth-wicket partnership which added 76 runs *in 34 minutes. At this stage, the bowlers were operating with a wet ball and could do nothing to halt the onslaught. Reid was . the first to go but his dismissal did not solve Canter- ' bury s problems. Alabaster batted attractively and confidently to carry his score to 36 before he was out to an unusual stumping. He stepped out to play a ball from Motz but missed. Guillen, standing a dozen yards back, thfew down the wickets. Otago’s last pair, V. A. C. McArley and F. J. Cameron, both reached double figures before Reid declared. Motz’s Four Wickets Motz, with four wickets, was the most successful bowler. Yesterday he did not bowl as impressively as Mac Gibbon who found better direction .than he had had on the first day of play and mustered up more pace. Poore bowled steadily, attacking the wickets consistently and had his reward with three victims. G. D. Alabaster was brought into the attack early in the morning session and he was as sterdy as any of the spinners used. W. Bell, though he did an excellent job in breaking up the fourth wicket partnership, again acked direction, although not as mucn as he did 'on Friday, and bowled too many over-pitched balls at a time when Reid was ia a truculent mood. Chapple was fairly economical without being hostile.

The Canterbury fielding was first-class, particularly in the outfield where Alabaster and R. Bayley had to do a lot of “boundary-riding.” B. A. Bolton, who surprisingly was not bowled, also fielded impressively. Guillen, who caught two batsmen and stumped another, had the distinction of not letting one bye through in Otago’s total of 365. He was busy all the time. Canterbury’s openers did not appear to be in any difficulty to the Otago bowlers although F. J. Cameron beat D’Arcy more than once. The two leg-spinners, Moir and Alabaster, was each given a short spell at the crease but neither could extract any turn from a wicket which had really softened with the rain. Heavy rain fell again in Dimedin last night and this morning but the weather cleared during the afternoon although there was still some cloud. Scores:— OTAGO First Innings E. A. Watson, c Guillen, b Bell 57 J. R. Veitch, c Guillen, b Motz 4 S. N. McGregor, b Poore 13 B. Sutcliffe, b Motz ..4 J. R. Reid, c Motz, b Poore .. 201 M. McEwan, b Motz .6 G. H. Mills, lbw, b Mac Gibbon 12 A. Moir, c Alabaster, b Poore .. 8 J C. Alabaster, std Guillen, b Motz .. .. .. 36 V. A. C. McArley, not out 11 F. J. Cameron, not out .. ..10 Extras (1 wide, 2 no-balls) 3

Total for nine wickets dec. 365 Fall of wickets: One for 4, two for 26, three for 30, four for 196, five for 225, six for 247, seven for 260, eight for 336, nine for 344.

Bowline O. M. R. W. A. R. MacGibbon 34 11 96 1 R. C. Motz ..24 4 81 4 M. B. Poore .. 25 8 68 3 W. Bell ..15 1 60 1 M E. Chapple ..12 2 34 0 G. D. Alabaster 7 1 24 0 CANTERBURY First Innings J. W. Guy, not out ..21 J. W. D’Arcy, not out ..' ..23 Extras (1 leg-bye, 3 noballs) .. .. 4 Total for no wicket .. 48 Bowling O. M. R. W. F. J. Cameron ..10 5 12 0 V. A. McArley .. 5.2 0 14 0 J. C. Alabaster 5 1 13 0 A. McK. Moir .. 2 0 5 0