GAME AGAINST WELLINGTON

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29398, 28 December 1960, Page 10

GAME AGAINST WELLINGTON

Canterbury Team Unchanged

The two teams which won in the first series of Plunket Shield matches this season, Wellington and Canterbury, will meet at Lancaster Park this morning. Last season, when Canterbury won the Plunket Shield, its only loss was to Wellington, which won by seven wickets after a century by the captain, J. R. Reid, had helped his side to a first innings lead of 206.

Canterbury is in need of a win against Wellington, for its last success in this fixture was as long ago as 1955-56. Two seasons ago Canterbury had an excellent chance, being 157 ahead on the first innings, but in the last innings, needing only 116 to win, Canterbury was out for 97, Reid taking seven for 38. In 1957-58 Canterbury needed 176, but was out for 70, with R. W. Blair taking six for 29 Both those batting failures were at Lancaster Park. The 1956-57 match, at Basin Reserve, was also lost.

The Canterbury team, which will be the same as that which won at Dunedin yesterday, should give a good conduct of itself. Its victories last year and its remarkable recovery against Otago should convince the players that they have the ability to win matches. M. E. Chapple is a very good leader, and although the first innings against Otago was a disaster, the second innings found two of the out-of-form batsmen, G. T. Dowling and Chapple, back in the runs. The depth of the batting was underlined by the success of A. G. Duckmanton.

Canterbury has a useful side, but Wellington will again be hard to beat. It has five internationals —Reid, B. W. Sinclair, J. W. Guy, Blair and T. G. McMahon. Sinclair, Guy, and Reid all made useful scores against Central Districts. Blair, with five wickets in the match, took his career aggregate to 375. and he is now only 33 behind the record held by T. B. Burtt. Wellington has some interesting young batsmen, notably B. A. G. Murray and I. W. R. Mason, and it should be particularly attractive in the field.

This is the first of the three home matches in which Canterbury batsmen are eligible for the £5O award offered by “The Press” for enterprising cricket. Every member of the team has the capacity to play the positive, thoughtful cricket which the award is intended to encourage. Canterbury supporters will hope to see their players produce the sound, aggressive cricket which marked the shield maches last summer. The teams are:—

Wellington: J. R. Reid (captain), P. T. Barton, B. A. G. Murray, I. W. R. Mason. J. W. Guy, T. G. McMahon, R. W. Blair, L. C. Butler, E. J. Sigley, R. E. Reid, B. W Sinclair. Canterbury: M. E. Chapple (captain), B. A. Bolton, G. T. Dowling, S. C. Guillen, R. W. Motz, J. W. Kiddey, A. R. MacGibbon, K. Thomson, J. T. Ward, A. G. Duckmanton, and P. G. Z. Harris.