CRICKET Central Districts Leading In Under-23 Tourney

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30057, 15 February 1963, Page 15

CRICKET Central Districts Leading In Under-23 Tourney

With an exciting two-wicket victory over Northern Districts, Central Districts took the lead at the end of the second round of the Rothman’s under-23 tournament yesterday. Northern recovered bravely from an almost impossible position, and very nearly won.

In the other games, Auckland beat Otago easily, and Canterbury beat Wellington on the first innings, but could not meet a demand for very quick scoring to take full points.

The team poinits are:— Centrad Districts 15, Wellington 11, Auckland 10, Canterbury 6, Otago 5, Northern Districts 1.

In the final round, beginning today, Centra] will play Otago, Canterbury will meet Auckland, and Wellington will play Northern Districts. Results.— Central Districts 200 and 108 for eight wickets beat Northern Districts 108 and 197 by two wickets. Canterbury 279 for seven wickets declared and 100 for five wickets beat Wellington 178 and 248 by 101 runs on the first innings. Auckland 229 and 6 for one wicket beat Otago 89 and 145 by nine wickets. Elmwood Park provided a lovely batting pitch for the Wellington and Canterbury players, and again more than 400 runs were scored there during the day. There was some spirited batting ait Ham, too, when Northern Districts, with seven wickets down in the second innings, was still behind the Central firstinnings total. But K. Kennedy, took charge and scored an admirable 62 not out, and Central, needing 106 for outright victory, lost eight wickets before the last runs were made.

Otago was no match for Auckland at St. Andrew's College, and very nearly lost by an innings, but there were several innings of note at Elmwood Park. One of the best of them was- from P. B Truscott (Canterbury) who scored a brilliant halfcentury to go with has 93 in the first innings. Wellington, dangerously placed for much of the day, effected a recovery through its batsmen late in the order, and then, with good, sustained fast bowling, prevented Canterbury from scoring sufficiently fast. Canterbury v. Wellington Canterbury started the day with a first-innings lead of 45 and four wickets in hand, but M. L. Ryan took a long time to add four to his overnight score of 66 C. Reid, however, took the necessary risks and profited so that Canterbury, after scoring only 12 runs in half an hour, was able to declare aftei 53 minutes for the addition of 46 runs. But valuable time had been largely wasted. R. E. Redmond, an elegant left-hander. batted calmly through a brief batting storm, in which Wellington lost four tor 68 during a very good spell of fast left-hand bowling from N F. Curtis. Redmond, with a scholarly straight bat, made some attractive strokes and used his feet well to the slow bowlers.

But when Curtis’s length fell away. B'. R. Harris hooked vehemently, and G. W. McLellan then became associated, again, with D. L. Paetz tn a match-saving partnership McLellan, with more hearty hits scored his half-century in an hour, and with Paetz scored 70 for the seventh wicket in 51 minutes. Then Paetz and A R Taylor scored 59 in 46 minutes, and it was this stand which all but ended Canterbury’s chances. Taylor again hit hard on the leg side and Paetz, mixing aggression with defence, again contributed valuably to his team. It was to the credit of the Canterbury captain, B. H Hopkins, that he maintained attacking fields throughout, bu: he appeared to put a little too much faith in the bowling of Ryan, who was very expensive without ever looking dangerous The sharper spin of the lefthander. M. G. Lester might have brought more reward Hopkins himself bowled very well on an unresponsive pitch, and again was unlucky with fielding lapses Canterbury, set a target of 148 in 82 minutes, had an excellent chance when Truscott and M A. Clements raced to 50 tn 39 minutes Truscott again made some magnificent, fierce drives oft the back foot off two of the best fast bowlers in the tournament, but after Clements was out—his wicket thrown down by the wicketkeeper. P Tindill. when he wasattempting a bye as the Pall went through to the keeperCanterbury’s chance disappeared Truscott made a fine showing, but there was no-one else capable of mastering the very good bowling of Taylor and 5 St. J. Parson. Taylor ended an outstanding

match with 86 runs and seven wickets. In a long spell yesterday afternoon he kept his pace up admirably Tindill also contributed effectively to Wellington’s regaining control of the situation. Scores:— WELLINGTON

First Innings .. .. 178 Second Innings R. E. Redmond, c Haydon, b Lester .. .50 J. Schofer, c Ryan, b Curtis 19 I. R. Mason b Curtis .. 1

J. E. Hammel, run out .. 11 P. E. Neal. lbw. b Ryan .. 1 B. R. Harris, c Ryan, b Lester .. .. 30 G. W. McLellan, b Clements 50 D. L. Paetz, c Barrett, b Hopkins .. ..41 A. R. Taylor, b Curtis .. 40 P. Tindill. lbw, b Hopkins 0 J. St. J. Parson, not out .. 2 Extras .. .. 3

Total .. .. 248 Bowling.—N. F. Curtis, 24, 9, 70, 3; B. H. Hopkins, 18.3. 5, 39, 2: M. L. Ryan, 22 , 3, 96. 1; M. G. Lester. 10, 0. 31, 2; M. A. Clements. 2,0, 9, 1. CANTERBURY First Innings (223/6) C. Reid not out .. ..33 T. L. Haydon, not out .. 13 Extras .. .. 29

Total for seven wickets (dec.) .. ..279 Bowling.—J. St. J. Parson, 19, 4, 65. 0: A. R. Taylor, 25. 3, 85 4; G. W. McLellan, 7, 0. 22, 0; D. Paetz. 16, 2, 68, 1; B. R. Harris. 3. 0. 10. 1. Second Innings P B Truscott, c Tindill, b Taylor •., S2 M. A. Clements, run out .. 16 P. G. Coman, not out .. 17 B. H. Hopkins, b Taylor .. 3 M. L. Ryan, run out .. 1 C. Reid, lbw, b Taylor .. 0 R. Gearry, not out .. 6 Extras .. .. 5 Total for five wickets .. 100 Bowling.—J. St. J. Parson. 10. 1, 57, 0; A. R. Taylor, 10, 1, 37, -3; D. L. Paetz, 1,1, o, o; j. Hammel, 1. 0, 1. 0. Central Districts v. Northern Districts Central Districts gained a two-wicket victory over Northern Districts at Ham Domain in a hard-fought match. Central quickly lost its remaining four wickets for the addition of only 16 to the overnight total of 184. The bowlers who did the damage were J. Bailey and M. Cotter. They kept the bail up to the batsmen and thoroughly deserved their wickets.

Northern batted again on a pitch that was playing very true, but once more the earlier batsmen failed against the pace attack of J. Smith and R. Collinge. With the score at 90 for seven, only the former Plunket Shield batsman, G. Giles, had shown any resistance. His clean driving and cutting earned him 30 runs.

The advent of J Bailey and G. Clarke stopped the procession. Bailey batted aggressively for 20 runs while Clarke was solid in scoring 29 The highlight of the innings was the partnership between Clarke and ■K. Kennedy They added 76 runs in 53 minutes, with Kennedy scoring an unbeaten, aggressive 62 in 67 minutes

while the total rose from 112 to 197.

Of the Central Districts bowlers Smith bowled accurately and courageously to take four wickets for 47 runs. Often he beat the bat only to see the ball miss the stumps by the smallest of margins. Left to score 106 runs In 115 minutes for outright victory. Central began well, but when Bailey was brought on to bowl his medium-paced deliveries, a change came over the game. He picked up four quick wickets for only 15 runs and all but gave his team victory. The only good batting of the innings came from G. Beer who, in scoring 22 twice straight drove the pace bowler, J. Beuth for four.

The fielding highlights of the game were C. Fox s catch to dismiss I. Hampton, and the wicket-keeping of G. Hermansson for Central Districts Scores:—

NORTHERN DISTRICTS First innings .. ..108 Second Innings L. Mountain, c Francis, b Collinge .. .. 6 G. Bright, run out .. 15 C. Beach, c Burns, b Fran-

cis .. .. . . 4 M. Cotter, c Smith, b Collinge . . 17 G. Giles, c Payton, b Fur-

long .. 30 I. McErlich, lbw, b Smith 2 C. Fox, lbw, b Smith .... 8 J. Bailey, b Smith .. 20 G. Clarke, c Collinge, b Smith .. 29 K. Kennedy, not out .. 62 J. Beath, std Hermansson, b Furlong .. .. 0

Extras .. ..4 Total .. ..*197 Bowling.—J. Smith, 25, 10, 47, 4; R. Collinge, 13, 3, 37, 2; R. Francis. 13, 2. 35, 1; B. Furlong. 28.2, 4, 74, 2

CENTRAL DISTRICTS First innings (184/6) I. Hampton, c Fox', b Cotter 32 B. Francis, lbw, b Bailey 4 B. Furlong, std Mountain, b Cotter .. .. 3 J. Smith, b Bailey .. .. 4 R. Collinge. not out .. 2 Extras .. ..19

Total .. ..200 Bowling.—J. Beuth. 17, 3. 40, 0; J. Bailey, 12, 2, 48, 4: K. Kennedy. 16, 5, 30, 0; G. Clarke, 9,2, 22, 1; C. Fox. 4. 0, 13. 1; M. Cotter. 5.2, 2. 19, 4. CENTRAL DISTRICTS First innings .. ..200 Second Innings D. Payton. c Bailey, b Clarke .. ..11 G. Beer, b Beuth .. 22 A. McCarthy, c Beach, b Kennedy .. ... 19 W. Murdock c Bailey, b Clarke .. .. 13 D. Burns, lbw. b Bailey .. 14 I. Hampton, lbw. b Bailey 6 G. Hermansson. c and b Bailey- 4 R. Francis, b Bailey .. 8 B. Furlong, not out .. 3 J. Smith, not out .. ..4 Extras .. .. 4 Total for eight wickets 108 Bowling.—J. Beuth. 10; 1, 41, 1; G. Clarke, 11, 3, 26. 2; J. Bailey, 6. 1, 15. 4; K. Kennedy. 8,2. 22. 1. Auckland v. Otago Only a defiant innings by R. Stewart and some earlier resistance from M. McKenzie forced Auckland to bat again to secure a comfortable victory; the match was over by 3 p m., and Auckland’s margin was nine wickets. Otago's last four first innings wickets fell to the pace of B Smith within an hour In the morning, and Otago was forced to follow on, 140 runs behind.

Smith made the early break--through, but McKenzie and L. Hollands came together and put on a useful 42 runs However, when their stand" was broken, only Stewart offered any spirited resistance to the varied leftarm spinning of the Auckland captain. H J. Howarth. Howarth’s length and direction rarely wavered, and he used a quicker ball to good effect. M G. Burgess bowled cleverly but unluckily, and the change bowlers met with their brief moments of Success. Scores:—

First Innings (65-6) R. Stewart, c Howarth, b Smith .. 7 A. C. Cartwright, lbw. b Smith .. 11 C Croudis c Howarth, b Burgess -. 0 G Shaw, not out .. 2 A Madigan, b Smith 5 Extras .. ..11

Total .. ..89 Bowling.—R Baddeley, 8. 1. 17. 2: B Smith. 12, 5. 32, 3; H. Schuster. 2,1, 4. 0; H. J. Howarth. 8. 3. 11 2; M G Burgess, 11. 6, 14. 3. Second Innings B. Turner, c Jessup, b Smith .. .. 0 M McKenzie, c Smith, b

Howarth .. ..28 L. Hollands, b Burgess 13 W Robertson, lbw b How-

arth .. .. I R Stewart, c Jessup, b Howarth .. 41 K Campbell, st Jessup b Davidson .. ..13 J Billcliff. lbw. b Carson 12 A C. Cartwright, c Burgess. b Howarth .. 16 C. Croudis, c Carson, b Burgess .. .. 8 G Shaw, e Davidson, b

Howarth .. .. 0 A Madigan, not out .. 0 Extras .. .. 12 Total .. ..*145 Bowling.—R. A. Baddeley. 11. 6. 21. 0- B. Smith. 10. 2. 32 1; H. J. Howarth. 17.1, IL 20. 5; M. G Burgess. 12. 4, 31. 2: P Davidson, 4 0. 7. 1; J. R Carson 9. 5. 16. I. AUCKLAND First Innings .. .. 229 Second Innings T. L. Jarvis not out .. 5 H. Schuster, lbw. b McKenzie .. • - I L Jones, not out .. 0 Total (for one wkt.) *6 Bowling.—M MeKenzie, 2.1, 4. 1; J. BiHeliffe, 2. 0. 2, 0.