Cricket A. R. MacGIBBON’S RETURN

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28986, 29 August 1959, Page 15

Cricket A. R. MacGIBBON’S RETURN

Function Held By Association

Although it is a full year since the New Zealand cricket team finished its tour of England, one of the team members. A. R. MacGibbon, had a keenly-interested audience when he spoke to members of the Canterbury Cricket Association's management committee and the New Zealand Cricket Council. He was the guest of the committee at a function arranged to welcome him home. Mac Gibbon gave an entertaining appraisal of play and players in England during the tour and in the present season. He stayed in England after the New Zealand tour was over, to further his engineering studies. Mac Gibbon said the New Zealand team was not unduly worried by pace bowling, but whatever they did, they seemed to finish up facing Laker and Lock on a pitch not to the batsmen’s liking. J. W. D’Arcy, he said, had earned the highest praise from English critics. In the Lord’s test D’Arcy had been magnificent against the sharply-rising ball and against Laker’s terrific, quick turn. He felt D’Arcy was unfortunate not to have retained his test place in New Zealand. He felt J. T. Sparling had a fine future and that W. R. Playle was still, potentially, a great player. He was a beautiful stroke maker, and when he learned to relax he would do hitaself justice. There had also, Mac Gibbon said, been high praise in England for J. T. Ward’s wicket-keeping. In welcoming Mac Gibbon, the president of the association (Mr C. G. Crawford) said that when Mac Gibbon was playing cricket in any team, he brought character to the game. Mac Gibbon’s approach to cricket had never been negative, and there were many times in Plunket Shield matches when Mac Gibbon had “bowled his guts out” and then been asked to add some enterprise to the batting. He had been a tower of strength to Old Collegians and to Canterbury.