Three places in doubt in cricket squad

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31841, 20 November 1968, Page 15

Three places in doubt in cricket squad

VyiTHIN a fortnight. Can- ’’ bury’s Plunket Shield practice squad is likely to be reduced to a dozen, the players chosen for the first match, against Otago on December 26. at Dunedin. Only then will some of the present puzzles of team construction be resolved. There are only three places in very much doubt: the partner for G. T. Dowling, the choice of a sixth batsmah, and which of the bevy of pace bowlers will be selected to support R. C. Motz and B. R. Taylor. The candidates for the number two batting position are C. L. Bull and P. G. Coman. It is hard to understand why the West-Univer-sity left-hander, I. M. Walter. was not included in the squad, for he appeals as a young player with all the attributes for success. Walter is very hard to shift, for he has fine powers of concentration: but he is not without shots, and his understanding with his club partner. Dowling, could be of real value. But if the choice is to be restricted to Bull and Coman, it would seem that at present. Coman has slightly the stronger claims. Bull, who remedied an indifferent season with an innings of 96 last summer, has yet to show form in his club matches whereas Coman is a leading scorer, and towards the end of last season discovered a rich reef of runs. He is aggressive, and a good fieldsman. But Bull is also a courageous player, and the experience he has had in the last few seasons will not be thrown away lightly. The sixth batting place—after Dowling and his partners, J. W. Burtt, B. F. Hastings and K. Thomson—was held by R. W’. Anderson for four matches last season, by

B. G. Hadlee in the fifth. These two are close rivals for selection, and the claims of C. J. Stevens and J. D. Riley are possibly just as strong. Stevens had an unhappy start to his represent ative career, but there is no mistaking the possibilities in him. Riley has made an excellent impression this season, and must be given a chance of forcing his way into the side. B. R. Taylor has only to show a slight .improvement in form to be a certain choice at number seven, and if he does, there will be six squad candidates for the third pace bowling place. Just what the selectors have in mind for this position is not obvious from the selection of the squad. K. I. Ferries, for instance, has as one of his principal attributes the ability to tie batsmen down and ultimately force them into error. N. A. Huxford has something of this quality too, although his attacking weapons are a little sharper. D. G. Trist is quite lively, but has impressed more with accurancy than w’ith excesses in lift or movement. But K. A. Nicholson and R. C. Merrin are distinctively attacking bowlers, and the same description probably applies to B. Sampson of Ashburton. Sampson’s best chance might be as a stand-by for Taylor. But which of the large group of bowlers wins the last place depends very largely on whether the selectors go all out for attack, or feel they need someone more likely to contain batsmen, and to provide economic relief for Motz and Taylor. Seven players in the squad last season have been omitted. They are

Walter. D. W. Stead, C. M. Kirk. P. A. Sharp, C. L. Broad, D. R. Hadlee and D. N. Macleod. The newcomers are B. Bhana. the Linwood High School lad who bowls left-hand off-breaks, Sampson. Nicholson, Coman, Riley, M. G. Lester and R. Miller. Lester, an orthodox left-hand spinner, and Miller. who has enjoyed considerable success in his new role as an off-spinner for Riccarton, will have to achieve something startling if they are to displace J. M. Mclntyre as Canterbury’s slow bowler: and there is unlikely to be room for two spinners.