CRICKET Two Saturdays Remain Before End Of Season

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28537, 17 March 1958, Page 13

CRICKET Two Saturdays Remain Before End Of Season

The cancellation of cricket on Saturday leaves only two playing Saturdays before the end of the season, and with only one round to be played, it now seems certain that Lancaster Park will win the senior championship for the first time sin.-e the 1950-51 season. For the last 12 summers, the title has been won by only three teams —Lancaster Park, Old Boys and St. Albans.

At present, Lancaster Park Is 18.5 points ahead of Riccarton, the team it will play in the final round, so that Riccarton is faced with a task of making, for example, about 700 runs and getting Lancaster Park out twice for a total of 100 if it is to make up the leeway with an outright win and bonus points. Sydenham won the first postwar championship, and since then Old Boys have won six times, St Albans three, and this season should give Lancaster Park its third success.

In the nine matches it has played. Lancaster Park has been beaten only once, by Old Collegians in the first round —a defeat it recently avenged most amply Lancaster Park would be a worthy winner oi the championship. tor the team has played with marked consistency, both in batting and bowling. Although in general the scoring this season has been decidedly lower than usual, Lancaster Park has eight batsmen who have averages in excess of 20. The find of the season has been the diminutive right-hand opener, D. E. Woods, who has had six scores of 30 or more, and whose average so far is 35.6. After an indifferent start. G. E. Royfee has batted effectively and attractively, and has taken his aggregate beyond 300. M. E. Chapple started brilliantly, and although his performances have fallen away a little, it has been a good season for him. Another seasoned player, A. G Duckmanton. has had little spectacular success, but he has a batting average of almost 30. McKendry and Irving

Lancaster Park owes most, however, to D. McKendry and B. Irving, both of whom started the season primarily as bowlers. McKendry scored 43 in the first- Qld Collegians match, but a duck against St Albans in the fourth round reduced his average to 12.2. Since then his scores have been 33 not out, 43 not out, 26, 54 not out. and 76 not out—232 runs for once out. What is more. McKendry and Irving have usually made their runs when their side has been in desperate need of them Irving’s last five scores have been 44 not out. 71 (run out); 1, 26 (run out), and 56 (run out)—so he has been dismissed by a bowler only once while scoring 198 runs. Had P. O’Malley and R. T. Dowker been available all the season, Lancaster Park would have had a tremendously strong batting team, but O’Malley has batted only twice, Dowker once.

The Lancaster Park bowling has been remarkably steady, inexpensive, and successful J. Saunders, for instance .has yielded only 226 runs from 127 overs. His opening partner, R. H. Prouting, seems to have a bright future. He bowls at a lively pace, with lift and outswing, and he seems to have overcome his tendency to bowl too many down the leg side. So far he has 33 wickets at an average of 12.6, a very fine performance, and he has cost under two runs an over . also. Duckmanton has been hardly more expensive, and his 20 wickets at 17.4 apiece has been a usfeul contribution. Chapple tops the bowling averages for the competition, with 33 wickets at 8.8 each. From 184.1 overs, only 291 runs have been scored. Irving has also been inexpensive, and McKendry, with his five for 42 against Old Collegians, brought his tally with his left-arm spin to 18 wickets at an average of 17.2. In the first four matches, the wiles of F. Dennis were most valuable to the team; he took 16 wickets, average 16.6, and then was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury. Early in the season R. S. Copp kept wickets efficiently, but he fell away and 1. P. Anderson has been a most satisfactory replacement. The fielding of the team has been good, with Duckmanton often outstanding, and Chapple has been an excellent leader. ' Riccarton’s Batting

It is to be hoped that Riccarton can make some effort towards giving the final round more than nominal interest. The first meeting between the teams was a fiasco. It was Riccarton’s only defeat in the first eight rounds, but its extent can be measured from the Lancaster Park bowlers' match analyses: Saunders, three for 20; Prouting, three for 19: Chapple, three for 13; Dennis, five for 13: and Irving, six for 7. Riccarton is capable of far better things than that: the batting is aggressive .and attractive—L. J. Newman. W. Muncaster. D O’Malley, J. Kiddey, and R. H. Scott have all made quick runs this season. The Riccarton bowling is of fair average quality, and better than that if R. C. Motz is fit. Motz and Kiddey are representative openers. W. Bel! has been bowling well, and J. F. Ackland, since his return to the senior side, has taken 13 wickets for 144 runs It could be a good game to finish an interesting competition.

LIST MATCHES OF SEASON

The two-day cricket matches which will start next Saturday will be the last this season. This was decided by the Canterbury Cricket Association when rain

caused the cancellation of all matches on Saturday. Two-day matches were due to start on Saturday and the season was scheduled to end with a oneday match on March 29. However, with the rain on Saturday the season will now finish with the final day of the two-day matches on Saturday, March 29.