Canterbury Is Under-23 Champion

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31908, 8 February 1969, Page 15

Canterbury Is Under-23 Champion

Canterbury has won the Rothmans under--23 cricket tournament. The swift dismissal of Central Districts when the final round began yesterday led to a substantial firstinnings lead for Canterbury.

Even in the unlikely event of Canterbury being beaten outright today, the host team cannot now be dislodged from the top of the points table. This was Canterbury’s second successive victory in these tournaments, and it was achieved on a day which, in general, was one of batting quality rather than of devastating bowling. Three more centuries were scored, and the only startling bowling figures were those of Canterbury’s D. R. Hadlee, whose 6 for 20 was the main contribution to Central’s collapse. Turner’s Second The century-makers were K. J. Harlock (Auckland), D. W. Stead (Canterbury) and G. M. Turner (Otago). It was Turner’s second century of the tournament; Stead fell only three short of that mark in the second round. Again, he and his captain, C. L. Bull, started the innings with a century partnership. Scores:— Auckland 404/9 declared. Northern Districts 14/0. Central Districts 84, Canterbury 245/7. Otago 307/8 declared, Wellington 39/0. The day’s play confirmed the view that Canterbury has by far the best attack in the tournament On a pitch which offered the seam bowlers a

little help, Hadlee was in tremendous form. He hit the stumps five times and troubled all the batsmen.

Stead provided another dashing display, timing his shots beautifully and hitting the ball hard. Harlock gave a dogged, but not unattractive display and Turner’s batting offered further evidence of his development He gave a thoroughly competent display keeping the ball down and finding the gaps expertly. The most violent batting of the day came from All Black, G. S. Thorne (Auckland), who thumped his way to 59 in 41 exhilarating minutes. The New Zealand under-23 team which will play Auckland at Easter will be announced at the end of play today. Canterbury v. Central On a pitch which offered a little encouragement to fast bowlers, Hadlee stood out for his fire and accuracy. He produced his best ball—a magnificent off-cutter—to defeat the form batsman. K. J. Wadsworth. He was well supported by Stead, who bowled his legbreaks with splendid control. J. Hayes was the only batsman who looked at all secure against the pace attack. Canterbury was given another fine start when Stead and C. L. Bull added 101 for the first wicket. Stead, who reached his century in only 126 minutes, thrashed the bowling with hooks and sweeps. The value of his innings was underlined bv the middle order slump, as R. Cox and R. Hunter brought Central back into the game with some good bowling. Canterbury, which is 160 runs ahead, seems unlikely to lose this match, and so Bull's gamble of putting Central in to bat looks to have paid off. But with the pitch likely to take more spin, Central's chances cannot be discounted in the event of a fourth innings. CENTRAL DISTRICTS

First Innings 1 R. Priest b Hounsell 3 • M. Herrick b Hadlee .. .. 2 • B. Baldwin b Kirk .. ... ?7 ■ I. Bowe b Hadlee .. ' .. 0 K. Wadsworth b Hadlee' .. 4 I J. Hayes b Stead .. J 5 i R. Hunter lbw b Hadlee .. 0 t A. Jordan b Stead .. ... 14 i R. Cox b Hadlee ... 9 R. Selby not out . 4 W. Coventry b Hadlee 0

Extras (byes 4, leg-byes 2) 6 Total 84 Fall of wickets: one for five, two for five, three for eight, four for 16. five for 18, six for 18, seven for 6'4. eight for 79, nine for 81. Bowling.—D. R. Hadlee 14.4, 5, 20. 6; A. R. Hounsell 9,6, 8, 1; C. M. Kirk 10, 2, 27, 1; D. G. Trist 4. 2.9, 0; D. W. Stead 6,1, 14, 2. CANTERBURY First Innings C. L. Bull st Wadsworth b Selby 38 D. W. Stead c Herrick b Selby 135 J. D. Riley lbw b Cox .. 16 R. W. Anderson lbw b Cox 4 P. A. Stubbings c Rowe b Hunter 22 R. E. Gearry c Wadsworth b Hunter 0 B. P. Isherwood not out .. 6 D. R. Hadlee c Coventry b Selby 4 C. M. Kirk not out .. 7 Extras (byes 4, leg-byes 9) 13 Total for 7 wickets 245 Fall of wickets: one for 101, two for 169, three for 175, four for 226. five for 226. six for 228, seven for 235. Bowling.—A. Jordan 11, 0. 51, 0; P. Selby 14, 2, 78, 3; R. Cox 11, 2, 47, 2; W. Coventry 2,0, 17, 0; R. Hunter 11, 0, 39, 2. Wellington v. Otago The Otago captain, Turner, steered his side to a respectable first innings total with a century against Wellington on Hagley- 1. As in his previous century against Auckland on the first day of the tournament. Turner was always the master during his 190-niinute innings. Turner won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that was reasonably fast but gave only occasional lift for the bowlers. He and W. L. Blair put on 52 for the first wicket, and solid support from N. M. Parker, S. J. Hunt and N. McKenzie allowed Turner to carry on in his efficient manner. The total was 228 before he was dismissed, caught in the slips oft J. F. M. Morrison for 116. After Turner’s departure, Hunt, who had three lives, made several adventurous hits oft the new-ball bowling of R. O. Collinge. The duel between these two was keen for a few overs, Collinge at one stage making Hunt sit hurriedly on the pitch, ducking a fiery bouncer. W. Lees played some good

shots before being run out, when it appeared as though the bail had been knocked off by the wicket-keeper’s pads, and N. G. Smith used a cross-bat "golf shot” to hit two consecutive sixes. At 307, Turner declared, leaving Wellington 35 minutes to bat. G. Murphy and Greenstreet were the best of the Wellington bowlers, the former being particularly unlucky not to gain any rewards. Collinge was again a disappointment and only against Hunt did he seem to work up enough enthusiasm to bowl above medium-pace. OTAGO First Innings G. M. Turner c B. Smith b Morrison 116 W. L. Blair c Murphy b Greenstreet .. 15 N. M. Parker c Vogtherr b Collinge 27 S. J. Hunt c Collins b Greenstreet 67 N. McKenzie c R. Smith b Greenstreet .14 J. E. Macdonald c R. Smith b Greenstreet .. 14 W. Lees run out .. 22 C. R. A. Dickel run out .. 11 N. G. Smith not out .. .. 15 Extras (leg-byes 2, noballs 4) 6 Total for 8 wkts decl. 307 Fall of Wickets. —One for 52; two for 128; three for 168; four for 228; five for 248: six for 260; seven for 292; eight for 307. Bowling.—R. O. Collinge, 24, 2, 91, 1; W. Greenstreet, 16.4, 2, 74, 4; G. Murphy, 22, 7, 56, 0; L. Collins, 7,4, 19, 0; B. D. Smith, 4,0, 14, 0; P. Wilson, 10, 4, 24, 0; J. F. Morrison 9, 4, 23, 1. WELLINGTON First Innings G. W. Newdick not out f .. 23 R. J. Vogtherr, not out >. 15 Extras (bye 1) 1 Total for no wickets 39 Bowling: C. J. McDonald, 4, O, 16, 0; J. Cushen, 3,0, 18, 0; N. G. Smith, 1,0, 4, 0. Auckland v. Northern Scoring at more than a run a minute on the easy batting pitch, Auckland set Northern , Districts a stiff task for today when it declared at 404 for nine wickets. A fine, patient century by Harlock was supplemented by a fierce 59 scored in 41 minutes by G. Thorne and a courageous 50 by the 17-year-old G. P. Howarth.

Harlock batted 284 minutes and steered Auckland through a difficult stage from 52 for two wickets to 311 for seven. He was

aided by some patchy fielding from Northern Districts but once past 50 he batted confidently and played some lovely off drives. Thorne was aggressive from his first strike—a quick single to the off-side and one of the two runs he scored through the off-side field. He hit one welltimed six and steered, pulled and often hacked the ball through the five on-side fieldsmen. It was not a stylish innings but it was a pleasant interlude and helped Auckland considerably. Howarth, nursing an injured shoulder, was unable to get much power into his shots but with intelligent placing and quick running between wickets, he scored quickly and was on top of the bowling. The placid pitch gave little assistance to the pace bowlers, P. Fraser and E. Hipkiss, but Fraser was rewarded for persistence and accuracy with four wickets for 98 runs. R. Hooton seemed as though he might run through the Auckland side when he took a wicket with his first ball, then a second in the next over to have figures of two for one off three overs. However, he met Thorne in the next over, yielded 19 runs, and did not bowl again. AUCKLAND First Innings R. J. Kasper lbw b Fraser .. 26 A. Panther c Brown b Fraser 19 K. J. Harlock c Wright b White 121 G. E. Vivian c Wright b Fraser 8 R. B. Arblaster std Wright b Hooton 45 G. D. Cooke c Gibson b Hooton 0 G. S. Thorne b McGill .. 59 G. P. Howarth b Fraser .. 50 C. G. Wilson run out 15 L. Sewell not out .. 34 W. Hand not out 6 Extras (wides 5, byes 5, leg-byes 5, no-balls 6) 21 Total for 9 wickets declared .. 404 Fall of wickets: One for 49, two for 51, three for 81, four for 173, five for 185, six for 269, seven for 311, eight for 358, nine for 379, Bowling: P. Fraser, 24, 5, 98, 4; J. White, 18, 0, 94, 1; E. Hipkiss. 14, 3, 64, 0; R. McGill, 17, 3, 85, 1; G. Gibson, 6,0, 21, 0; R. Hooton, 4,2, 21, 2. NORTHERN DISTRICTS First Innings D. Lloyd not out f.. 3 R. Hooton not out .. 9 Extras (no-balls 2) 2 , Total for no wickets 14 Bowling: L. Sewell, 4,1, 7,0; W. Hand, 3,1, 5, 0.