Cricket Booming On Coast

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30919, 27 November 1965, Page 11

Cricket Booming On Coast

JN spite of the difficulties posed by a wet climate and the large distance club teams have to travel to play their games, cricket is a booming sport on the West Coast. The representative team dominated the South Island Minor Association’s Trophy last season, only one of its four games was not won outright, and club cricket has reached a high standard. Mr R. H. Donaldson, president of the West Coast Cricket Association for the last six years, considers that part of the credit for this must go to an exremely

competent umpires’ association. But the answer lies more deeply than this. Not for many years have their been as many adult players, and the numbers of children taking part is also increasing. There are 13 adult teams, five senior and seven seniorreserve, with about 150 playing adults. All adult games are one-day matches and are played on Sunday. Mr Donaldson could advance no reason to explain why they were held on Sunday, but said this had always been the case. The school children’s matches are held on Saturday.

“Last Saturday was the first cause we have had so much rain,” said Mr Donaldson, dry ground we have had and often we play in the rain. “Three Saturdays have been washed out so far and on two others we have played in driving rain. Distance between clubs is also a problem; Blackball have to travel 50 miles to play Woodstock. “The loss of the Fiji match has been a blow to us,” said Mr Donaldson. “We would certainly have made a profit out of it as it was, apart from Buller and North Canterbury, our only home match.”