New Captain Is Hastings

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30916, 24 November 1965, Page 23

New Captain Is Hastings

B. F. Hastings will be the Canterbury cricket captain this season. The 25-year-old WestUniversity captain, Canterbury’s “Cricketer of the Year” for the 1964-65 season, was appointed last night. He succeeds a West-Univer-sity team-mate, G. T. Dowling, who was Canterbury captain for three years before declining this year because of pressure of work. Hastings is no stranger to captaincy and was once probably being groomed as a New Zealand captain of the future. He led the Wellington Brabin Cup team in 1958-59 and 1959-60, and in the latter season also captained the New

Zealand celts side which toured Australia. The following year he captained New Zealand Colts again, in the match against D. W. R. Silk’s M.C.C. side, and in 1961-62, his first season in Canterbury, had charge of the Canterbury team in the first Rothman’s under-23 tournament.

Last season, Hastings became captain of West-Univer-sity and, upon Dowling’s departure with the New Zealand team, captained Canterbury in its final game of the season, against the New Zealand under-23 team. In that game, Hastings made a record score for Canterbury, 226. He has an impressive firstclass record of 1283 runs at an average of 31. Nearly half of these runs (629) were made last season when Hastings, who had the top average in the country, was distinctly unlucky to miss the New Zealand team. The vice-captain will be R. C. Motz. Holder of the Winsor Cup for last year’s outstanding bowling performances, Motz has played for Canterbury since 1957, when he was plucked from the Canterbury Brabin team as a 17-year-old to replace an injured A. R. Mac Gibbon. FOOTNOTE. Yesterday was a memorable day for Hastings in other respects. His wife gave birth to their first child.