Century-Makers Give Cricket Bright Opening Day

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30569, 12 October 1964, Page 16

Century-Makers Give Cricket Bright Opening Day

Cricket came in like a lion at Hagley Oval on Saturday, the most heartening and entertaining opening day for many years.

And it will not go out like a lamb while it provides such fascinating struggles as the Old Boys-West ChristchurchUniversity match on the main ground.

In this match two of Canterbury’s best young prospects, B. G. Hadlee and C. J. Stevens, scored centuries with bold yet beautiful batting against good and accurate bowling. Their partnership of 216 in 171 minutes, full of magnificent attacking strokes, set a stirring pace to which their opponents replied hand-

somely, with 114 in the 80 minutes before stumps.. In the other games, pace and performance were more in accord with first-day traditions, but in each case the stronger team on paper was in difficulty when the day was done. Apart from the batting of

Hadlee and Stevens, there were remarkable performances by A. G. Duckmanton, who took eight Sydenham wickets, and by J. R. Veitch, the former Otago player, who

scored 71 not out in only 80 minutes against Old Boys. Half-centuries were also made by K. Thomson (Sydenham) and A. R. Mac Gibbon (Old Collegians). R. C. Mota took six wickets for Riccarton, A. C. Timpson five for West Christ church-University. Scores:— Old Boys 329; West Christchurch - University 114/1. East Christchurch-Shir-ley 154; Riccarton 113/6. Old Collegians 236; St Albans 97/5. Sydenham 176; Lancaster Park 142/4.