RANDOM AT LARGE

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32127, 24 October 1969, Page 15

RANDOM AT LARGE

THE SHIELD

It took a while for the mail to catch up, but word of Canterbury's Ranfurly Shield success against Hawke’s Bay was received in Nagpur by members of the New Zealand cricket team on the first day of the second test match with India. The arrival of “The Press” settled a few unspoken but nagging doubts in the breasts of the Canterbury members of the party and rather rocked those from other parts who were convinced that had Canterbury won the match, announcements of the triumph would have come from home in the form of orders for cases of champagne or at least as telegrams congratulating Canterbury members

of the team on being part of the great red-and-black brotherhood. People from outside Canterbury are a bit like that, no sense of humour at all. This was very much in evidence when they had to meet their betting obligations with those Canterbury players who had had especial faith in the team. Naturally, there were some discussions on the subject, notable more for their evidence of parochialism than profundity, and what more natural that the five Canterbury players in this team should hint that all the football ability in Canterbury did not belong to the McCormicks and the Kirkpatricks, what more inevitable than that they should

bffer the other 11 the opportunity of testing their skill against the Bed and Blacks? Wiser counsels, as they occasionally do, prevailed, for late afternoon in Nagpur does not provide ideal conditions for physical contact games, as this would most certainly have been. It may seem cooler in the late afternoon, but that’s only because the temperature has dropped down to double figures. So they had to concentrate on their cricket and as some Rugby followers may be aware, they won their test In the light of the previous few days’ discussions, it seemed no more than justice that all the Indian wickets were taken by North Islanders.