Under-23 team made bold showing

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32524, 6 February 1971, Page 9

Under-23 team made bold showing

ALTHOUGH the Canter-under-23 cricket team did not bring the Rothmans Cup home from Auckland, it proved to be

one of the most enterprising teams in the competition. At lunch on the last day of the tournament, Canterbury, already trailing Northern Districts by 19 runs on the first innings, was given little chance of

gaining a decision in this key match. D. Lloyd, the Northern captain, declared his team’s second innings closed at 195 for eight wickets, and set Canterbury a target of 215 runs for victory in only 130 minutes—a seemingly impossible task. But the southerners responded to the call magnificently and set about tearing the Northern Districts’ attack apart. With the early capture of N. M. Parker’s wicket, the Northern bowlers would have been justified in thinking that they had a chance of breaking through and forcing the pace. They could well have been right in the hunt if A. E. Collins had not played a fabulous innings of 93 runs in only

96 minutes to take the wind out of Northern’s sails. Collins, who earlier in the week had shown the desire to hit the ball hard, wasted little time in sending the ball to, and sometimes over the boundary in his whirlwind innings, which included four sixes and 12 fours. With J. W. Calder scoping an unbeaten 30, Canterbury reached its objective with three overs to spare, but then had to wait until the officials gathered the details of the Central Districts-Wellington match at Cornwall Park before it was informed that it had lost to Central by a narrow margin when the averages of the two teams were taken into account. Parker might have had a lean time in the second innings of this encounter, but he had already left his mark at the tournament. In the first match, against Auckland, he scored 165 — the third highest score in the 11-year history of the Rothmans tournament. Collins, Parker’s opening partner throughout the week long tournament, scored 187 runs for an average of 46.75, about 30 less than Parker, but still a very creditable performance. It was unfortunate that Parker, who this week began a new physical education teaching appointment at Timaru Boys' High School, was unavailable for selection in the New Zealand under-23 team. B. Bhana, with 10 wickets, was the most successful of the Canterbury bowlers, while C. Galwey, with seven wickets for 106, had the best average. P. d’Auvergne, who also took seven wickets, was one bowler who drew attention in Auckland and was considered unlucky not to have better figures at the end of the tournament. The future of Canterbury cricket appears to be in capable hands if these young players continue to show the ability which brought them so close to victory in this important competition.'!-'