Cricket Youth

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 19

Cricket Youth

L WEEKLY REVIEW

ihc waifs of Christchurch primary school cricket, members of the High School Old Boys B grade team, were definitely not idle and only slightly disorderly at Hospital Corner in Hagley Park on Saturday morning.

The team, which was entered in the schoolboy competitions a month ago, has yet to be included in the draw made fortnightly by the Canterbury Cricket Association’s junior advisory board.

justice and mis-use of time when the B team, which lost by an innings and 24 runs, spent the last half hour or so in the field while the A’s exercised their batting powers. In contrast to the first day’s play the previous Saturday, batsmen were well on top of the bowling and retirement as frequent as dismissals in the trial match held at Hospital Comer to assist in the selection of the Canterbury team to attend the South Island primary school tournament at Gore next month. The scoring rate was doubled and lan Rule’s XI scored its 103 runs in better than even time. Wayne McWhirter, the fourth boy to be tried as wicket keeper, spent over an hour behind the stumps, during which time he took a good catch and conceded very few byes, before coming out to bat and top score with 20 runs for Rule’s team. He looked most promising in both roles, though his innings had one blemish when Sam Ewart failed to hold a low catch to his right at first slip off Michael Hawke, whose roundarm slinging action is not dissimilar to that of his namesake in the Australian test team, Neil Hawke.

flattering an adjective than good. It was not this aspect that impressed the selectors. His high, arching trajectory which transported leg spin delivered with the left arm was, however, distinctly unusual, possibly unique in Christchurch for a boy of his age.

Two Saturdays ago, the tram assembled at the pavilion near Hospital Corner, was met by the coach of the club’s A team, and told to "go to look for a game” on one of the ground’s eight wickets. There was no opposition to be found, so the team split up for a practice match.

Ross says he floats the ball because it is the only way he can impart spin. “I learned to leg spin by reading ‘Close on Cricket’ and other books by spin bowlers. I’ve just learned to bowl the googly and usually bowl one an over. They nearly always get belted and I need a lot more practice.”

It was much the same on Saturday, except that only seven boys turned up and there was no sign of the eoach who, by the consensus of opinion, was probably at Sydenham Park where the A team was playing. One of the seven players engaged in the “bash around,” as the boys called it, was an A grade player who claimed, "1 couldn’t bike all the way over to Sydenham; I was late anyway.” The rest of the B side (two of the original team had become disheartened and stayed at home, one was playing tennis and another attending a Boy Scout camp) said they had not yet had “a proper game” and added the joint appeal for some adult interest and inclusion in the final draw for the 1966 half of the season.

The practice will have to come on Saturday mornings and in his own spare time, for Ross’s type of bowling is a luxury that his Wairakei primary school team has not been able to afford in low scoring school matches. He does not speed up his bowling when taking punishment as he is still relying a good deal on catching for his wickets. On Saturday Murray Davie and Stephen Goodliffe both assisted in this way by holding sharp chances at silly mid-off.

The wicket was appreciably faster and truer than on the first day, though a pine cone protruding just above the surface at the northern end at a point where a good off break would pitch, spoiled the general appearance and raised several sets of eyebrows in wonder.

A volte face is never heyond possibility in cricket and uncertainty until the final wicket has fallen is more prevalent and acute in low-scoring schoolboy games than in the higher realms.

The other leading scorers for Rule’s team were Ivan Thomson (14 retired), Grant McLeod (15 retired) and Jonathon Lee (13 retired). Although the only. four wickets to fall were taken by different bowlers. Grant Magon firmly staked his claim as a stock bowler by getting 1/3 off eight overs.

Wicket keepers are often in the best position to advise a bowler, but some should be seen and not heard. Silence greeted the first two balls delivered by East Christchurch D grade opening bowler, David Vincent Both lacked direction and nearly everything else, but the first was chased by Riccarton’s G. Rhodes and spooned agonisingly beyond Norman Palmer’s reach at gully, while the second landed with a thud in the deserted region of mid wicket.

Defiant Note Stephen Cotton struck just the right note of defiance to turn defeat into possible victory when his East Christchurch B grade team was forced to follow on in the second day’s play against Burnside, at Bumside Park. His whirlwind innings of 40. which came almost entirely in figures of four, stood out rather prominently in a total of 76. Bumside’s task of scoring 34 in an hour nevertheless seemed not too difficult especially when careless fielding gave away eight runs •t the start of the innings.

Squad Named After the match, the selectors, Messrs A. L. Moore and D. J. Steere, named their squad from which the team of 12 will probably be chosen. Performances in Saturday’s matches could alter their provisional selection, which is:— Peter Ross. John Lindsay (Burnside); Grant McLeod, Jonathon Lee (High School Old Boys); Ivan Thomson, Bruce Jenkins (Sydenham); Brian de Lore, Graham Donaldson, Wayne McWhirter, Grant Magon (Riccarton); lan Rule. Gary Myall, lan Perry (East ChristchurchShirley); Hamish Macßeth (Old Collegians). Only two boys, Ross and Thomson, have played in a previous South Island tournament.

Vincent’s good sense told him to shorten his run and concentrate on such things as accuracy for the third delivery which, in all ways, was perfect. Rhodes lunged forward, with little conviction, and again deposited the ball just beyond gully. Immediately came the cry from behind the stumps, “Aw, bowl properly.”

But now came the volte face: the fielding and bowling tightened in adverse ratio to the quality of the batting and Bumside, with only nine players, lost six of its batsmen in as many overs of medium-pace bowling by Terry Hooper. He took 6/16 and East won quite comfortably.

But at Hospital Comer, there was never much hope that Riccarton B. which was following on to Riccarton A, would do the same. The fact that the B team comprises the entire Hoon Hay primary school first XI must constitute some sort of advantage, and the casual observer might have been impressed at the instinct to pull together for the common cause when the B team openers, Graham Howard and Geoffrey Masefield, strode to the wickets with this vote of confidence ringing in their ears: “Don't give up yet you kids. They could make those sneaky runs that they made against Cashmere (in a school game) yesterday.” Alas, Howard was bowled in the first over and two balls later Masefield leaned back and hit a ball from Graham Derbidge straight into midoff's hands.

Led in true captain’s style by David Gottermeyer, West Christchurch-Univer-sity fought until late in the morning before succumbing to the odds stacked heavily against it in the first day’s play against Burnside C grade. David, resplendent in his bright red Fendalton primary school rugby socks, spooned the ball tauntingly to most points of the cricketing compass when West, in a rather hopeless position, followed on. Advised repeatedly on when to run by other team members sprawled beyond the boundary, David delighted his supporters, including his coach, Mr D. Cockburn, in scoring 31, which was eight runs more than the team’s first innings total. Mr Cockbum, heeding the side's recent history, conducted a coaching session at Fendalton the previous Sunday morning and was convinced of its worth after Saturday’s consistent batting. Although West failed by three runs to make Burnside bat again, Mr Cockbum was visibly pleased with his proteges’ efforts. “Your batting’s improved 100 per cent,” he told them.

Exciting Over For the record, Ricearton made 72 (Tony Steer 21, lan Barr 26) and dismissed the last East batsman in a most exciting final over. Barr displayed a nice touch of chivalry when a head-high full toss to the East captain, Paul McFadzien, was accompanied by a gasp of concern and an immediate apology. But three balls later, Barr seemed outwardly calm as be bowled the same player. Roger Blacklock, coming in at No. 7, used a fine repertoire of strokes in scoring 23 and making an East win a possibility. Seven runs were needed by the last pair in the last over, but only three were scored before Christopher Bates was bowled by the final ball.

Hat-Trick The team showed commendable fighting spirit in the 16 ensuing overs, but defeat was hastened by Derbidge who took his third hat-trick of the season in closing the innings. His off cutters reaped 5/9 from five overs and the B’s were dismissed for 34. Graham's previous hattricks were performed against Sydenham in the first competition round and for Opawa in a school match against the School for the Deaf three weeks ago. There were hints of in-

New Players Cricket is in its infancy at the Somme Street Convent School. Gear was purchased before the season opened by the school’s parent-teacher association; Mr B. Cooke, a parent, has been supervising the team; and Mr B. Walsh, a Marist 2B player, has been coaching the boys on Sunday mornings at Malvern’ Park as there are no cricketing facilities at the school. The team was entered In the C grade. It has not scored more than 30 runs in its four matches, but there are several players of promise and Mr Walsh believes results will come if they will only keep their heads down while batting. At first there was difficulty in fielding a full team, so the Sockbum parish was “roped in” and five members of the Somme street team are pupils of Our Lady of Victories Convent School.

Good Bowling A bowling performance by 10-year-old Ross Joblin in the same match attracted the attention of the selectors as they umpired their trial game on an adjacent wicket In the context of C grade cricket Ross’s analysis of 3/21 from 10 overs would rate no more

David Terry, the team’s opening batsman, has been the most difficult to remove, while David Cooke, who took 5/4 from 11 deliveries in Bumside’s innings of 63 on Saturday, is the leading wicket taker. Nine bowlers were given two or three overs each in the Burnside innings. Inevitably, the team is still finding its feet and the experience of playing cricket is still refreshingly new.