UNDER-23 TOURNEY Central Districts Now Look Certain To Win

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30058, 16 February 1963, Page 15

UNDER-23 TOURNEY Central Districts Now Look Certain To Win

Central Districts seem certain to win the Rothman’s under-23 tournament which will end today. Top team by a margin of four points, it won a commanding position in its game against Otago yesterday.

It was a wonderful day for cricket, and in perfect conditions, more good strokes were played than on any of the previous four days. The outstanding individual performance was that of G. V. Giles (Northern Districts) who made a most attractive 156, the highest score so far, in a total of 340, also the highest of the tournament.

G. Beer (99) and L. Payton (53) shared an opening partnership of 150 for Central Districts, and Canterbury and Auckland also contributed to the swift and pleasant batting. The scoring rate in the two matches at Hagley Oval was accentuated by the ludicrously short boundaries.

Scores:—

Northern Districts 340; Wellington 74 for three wickets.

Otago 135; Central Districts 228 for six wickets.

Canterbury 244; Auckland 125 for three wickets.

AH three pitches played easily, the outfields were very fast, and the scoring rates were generally in sympathy with these ideal conditions. But there were two notable bowling performances.

J. R. Smith defied the heat in sending down 24 consecutive overs for Central Districts and he finished with six wickets. A. R. Taylor, the Wellington fast bowler, also showed great perseverance in taking five wickets. Canterbury v. Wellington Canterbury looked likely to make a huge score when P. B. Truscott and M. A. Clements scored 79 for the first wicket in only 45 minutes. Once again Truscott drove magnificently, and he played many other fine strokes. Clements, batting more confidently than in some of his earlier innings, also used a good range of easily-produced strokes. H. Howarth’s left-arm spin broke the partnership and stifled the scoring, and then the pace bowlers began to take wickets, most of them going to the energetic S. Kohlasse. However. P. G. Coman, giving another fine display scored swiftly and well, and his captain. B. H. Hopkins, helped him turn the tide. T. L. Haydon also made useful runs, but the total of 244 was a little disappointing in such circumstances. N. F. Curtis bowled well for Canterbury in his opening spell, but T. Jarvis and L. Jones scored 76 for the second wicket, often using clean and powerful square cuts. catching lapses continued, and Auckland, by the close of play, was fairly comfortably placed. P Scott, a left-hander of genuine promise, played the ball commendably close to the pad, and hit it very hard. Scores: CANTERBURY First Innings P. B. Truscott, c Scott, b Howarth .. ..45 M. A. Clements, b Kohlasse 44 G. T Barrett, run out .. 4 M. L. Ryan, b Kohlasse .. 11 P G. Coman. c Jessup, b Schuster .. '.. 53 R. Hortin, b Smith .. 4 R. M. Gearry, c Shuster, b Kohlasse .. .. 6 B. H. Hopkins, c Jessup, b Smith .. .. 23 T. L. Haydon, not out .. 23 M. G. Lester, lbw, b Burgess 5 N. F. Curtis, c Jarvis, b Kohlasse .. .. 6 Extras .. 20

Total ..244 Bowling.—B. Smith, 13, 3, 51. 2; S. Kohlasse, 22. 9. 45, 4; H. rfowarth. 13, 6, 46. 1; H. Schuster 15, 6, 34, 1; M. Burgess, 15. 3. 48, 1.

AUCKLAND First Innings T. Jarvis, run out .. 35 H. Schuster, lbw, b Curtis 0 L. Jones, lbw, b Ryan .. 47 P. Scott, not out .. 23 J. Carson, not out .. 14 Extras .. ..6 Total for three wkts. 125 Bowling.—N. F. Curtis, 13. 1. 47. 1; B. H. Hopkins, 18. 8. 30. 0- M. G. Lester, 5,3, 16, 0; M. L. Ryan, 8,2. 25, 1; P. B. Truscott, 2, 1. 1. 0. Northern Districts v. Wellington The Northern Districts innings gave a cough and a splutter at the start—s2 for the second wicket by G. Bright and C. Beach—four down for 64—but once Giles took charge it went ahead smoothly. Giles, who has had little success earlier, looked like a form batsman from the start and he took swift runs from all the bowlers with crisp, clean, well-made strokes. The left-hander cut and drove especially well. He had in P. Carew a dutifully defensive lieutenant, and together they gave their side 130 runs in little over two hours. Giles was a long time on 99, largely because he lost most of the bowling, but a sharp chance through the slips gave him his century in 148 minutes. He went ahead to plunder further, and before the end had hit two 6’s, two s’s, and 26 fours. I. McErlich, after a rather uncertain start, played some pleasant off-side shots and he helped Giles score 92 for the sixth wicket. At the end C. Fox hit some brisk runs.

Taylor gave an outstanding display of fast bowling in difficult conditions, and even at the end he was full of life—so alert, Indeed, that he succeeded in blatantly throwing one ball' at J. Beuth without incurring the displeasure of the umpire. Taylor has been one of the dominant figures in this tournament.

Wellington’s R. Redmond again batted attractively, but Beuth’s insistently lively bowling brought him three wickets before the end; to further improve his side’s position. Scores:—

NORTHERN DISTRICTS First Innings L. Mountain, lbw, b Parson 14 G. Bright, c Mason, b Taylor .. .. .. 21 C. Beach, c Redmond, b McLellan .. .. 21 M. Cotter, c Redmond, b Taylor .. .. 0 G. Giles, run out .. .. 156 P. Carew, c Tindill, b McLellan .. .. 28 I. McErlich, lbw, b McLellan 35 K. Kennedy, c Neal, b Taylor .. .. 4 C. Fox. not out .. .. 34 J. Bailey, lbw, b Taylor .. 1 J. Beuth, c Paetz, b Taylor 1 Extras • ■ .. 25 Total .. . .340

Bowling.—J. St. J. Parson 24, 6, 81, 1; A. R. Taylor, 25.5, 11, 65. 5; G. W. McLennan, 19. 2, 77. 3; D. L. Paetz, 21, 3, 64, 0; R. Redmond, 5, 0 28, 0. WELLINGTON First Innings R. Redmond, c Mountain, b Beuth .. .. 39 A. Woolford, c Mountain, b Beuth .. ..14 I. R. Mason, b Beuth 13 J. Schofer, not out .. 3 J. Hammel, not out .. 0 Extras .. .. 5

Total for three wickets 74 Bowling.—J. Beuth, 13, 3. 23, 3; J. Bailey, 10, 2, 42. 0; C. Fox. 1,0, 4. 0; K. Kennedy, 2,2. 0. 0.

Central Districts v. Otago A sparkling opening partnership of 150 between G. D. Beer and D. H. Payton left Central Districts in a very strong position at stumps. The pair attacked the bowling at every opportunity and in 107 minutes of exhilarating batting had pased Otago’s first innings’ total comfortably.

However, credit for Central Districts* strong position must also go to the fine mediumpace swing bowling of J. R. Smith. He opened the bowling and displayed remarkable endurance in delivering 24 consecutive overs and taking five tor 62; his final figures were six for 63. Smith's stock ball was the out-swinger, but he also straightened up the occasional ball to claim three legt-before-wicket decisions. He had economical support from the left-arm spinning of R. T. Francis.

R. Stewart played another solid innings for Otago but although W. Robertson played some nice drives and A. C. Cartwright hit lustily at times, no-one else stayed long enough to put up any significant resistance.

Beer and Payton set about the bowling at a refreshing rate and the 100 came up in 85 minutes, the same time as Beer's 50. Beer, driving effortlessly. cutting delicately, and pulling viciously, then scored his next 40 runs in only 20 minutes but lingered in the nineties before being bowled, one short of his century. Payton batted pleasantly and gave no chances in a stay of 107 minutes before, surprisingly, becoming the persevering Cartwright’s first victim. In the space of five overs. Cartwright took the first four wickets to fall, but a pleasant innings by W T Murdock, the Central Districts' captain, kept the game very much in his team’s favour. Scores:— OTAGO First Innings M. McKenzie, b Smith .. 11 B Turner, c Payton, b Colllnge .. .. 19 L. Hollands, lbw, b Smith 0 W. Robertson, st Hermansson. b Smith .. 20 R. Stewart, b Smith .. 35 I. Billcliff, b Collinge 1 K. Campbell, lbw b Smith 12 P. Anderson, lbw. b Smith 10 A. C. Cartwright, run out 23 G. Shaw, b Francis .. 0 A. Madigan, not out .. 0 Extras ..4 Total .. .. 135 Bowling.—J. R Smith. 28.1, 12. S 3. 8; R. O. Collinge. 14. 4. 32. 2; I. R. Hampton, 3. J, 1,0; B. T. Francis, 15, 5, 19, 1; B. D Furlong. 6. 2, 16. 0. CENTRAL DISTRICTS First Innings G. D. Beer, b Cartwright .. 99 D. H. Payton, lbw. b Cartwright .. .. 52 L D. Wooq, lbw, b Cart-

wright .. ..7 W. T. Murdock, not out .. 34 D. G. Burns, lbw. b Cartwright .. .. 0 I. R. Hampton, c and b Madigan .. .. 10 G. L. Hermansson, b Madigan .. .. .. U R. T. Francis, not out .. 4 Extras .. ..11 Total (for 8 wkts.) 228 Bowling.— A. C. Cartwright, 18, 2. 56, 4; A. Madigan, 12, 0. 68, 2; J. Billcliff, 12, 2, 41. 0; B. Turner, 11, 1, 38. 0; G. Shaw, 2,0, 14. 0.