OVERLOOKED

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30934, 15 December 1965, Page 19

OVERLOOKED

1F figures mean anything at all in cricket, the for mer Canterbury B player, A C. Timpson should have been the first spin bowler chosen for the Auckland Plunket Shield team. However, as in previous years the Auckland selectors have stayed with H. J. Howarth, notwithstanding this his club bowling has returned him a very paltry return. Timpson could be forgiven for viewing the Auckland selectors with a rather jaundiced eye. So far in club cricket he has taken 28 wickets at an average of 9.9, while Howarth has taken seven wickets at an average of 39.9. That in itself would seem rather conclusive proof that Timpson is the form bowler but last Sunday Timpson heavily underlined his claims for Plunket Shield

selection when playing for Crusaders against the Auckland shadow XI he took eight for 25—the best performance of his career. Unfortunately that brought no response from the selectors.

Howarth has had a charmed life in Auckland cricket He was preferred to the young spinner, J. M. McIntyre but has yet to make any real impact as a bowler in first-class cricket

When he was playing in Christchurch, Timpson was probably the most consistent spinner in senior cricket and if he had been given the opportunity certainly would have done well in Plunket Shield cricket It seemed that his excellent bowling in Auckland might have won him a place in the shield side but possibly selectors’ loyalties die hard.