Once Every 10 Years?

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31542, 2 December 1967, Page 11

Once Every 10 Years?

TJICCARTON’S 53 extras last Saturday made a few of the older heads in the team recall the day when, against the same team and at the same ground—Lancaster Park—they accumulated even more. It was the last game of the 1957-58 season, and mainly due to a magnificent 149 by P. W. O’Malley, Lancaster Park was able to declare at 402 for six wickets. But it received a bonus of no less than 72 extras. The wicket-keeper was E. P. Fuller, who had bother in “reading” the brilliant but often wayward leg-spin-ner, W. Bell. More than once he went outside the off stump, only to find that the bowler had turned a googly viciously, as only Bell could, past the leg stump. Twenty-nine, noballs were bowled, 20 of the** by R. C. Motz, but as

nine were scored from, only the remainder showed in the extras. In all, there were 37 byes, 20 no-balls, and 15 leg byes. The total of 72 is a record in Christchurch club cricket, and even in “The Playfair Book of Cricket Records” there are no records of more being scored In a single innings. It does state, however, that in the earlier days of cricket, large totals of sundries were common because of the lack of protective gear worn by the wicket-keepers. A few seasons back in a country competition 68 extras were recorded in a single club innings. In that particular game a plan of local vengeance had backfired on the conspirators. Early in the season a club had played an “away” game, only to find that the opposition hid watered the wic-

ket to reduce the effectiveness of the visiting fast bowlers. In the return game the club members "prepared” their wicket by neglecting to roll or water it.

However, things did not go as planned. Both bowlers were terribly inaccurate, most balls flying harmlessly past the batsmen at various heights and widths.

The result—6B extras, of which about 60 were byes! The record number of extras recorded in a test innings occurred in the series between England and New Zealand in 1929-30. In the fourth test at Auckland, England conceded 57 sundries. On that occasion the English wicket-keeper, W. F. Cornford, let through 31 byes; the remainder came from 16 Jeg byes and 10 no-balls '