CRICKET YOUTH

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32540, 25 February 1971, Page 13

CRICKET YOUTH

The return to routine which marks the end of school holidays also signals the resumption of the Junior Advisory Board’s Saturday morning competition for primary school cricketers. Last Saturday, Hospital comer, the main ground for these fixtures, was unusually deserted in appearance but it is expected that the majority of club and school teams will be organised by this week.

The major talking point of the pre-Christmas part of the season was the selection of a rather controversial Canterbury team for the South Island tournament at Nelson. However, the selectors were handsomely vindicated, when their team finished second to Nelson, the host team, in the final. The Canterbury side won its way into the final only after a heart-stopping victory over the strong Otago team, by one wicket The Otago side, in the preliminary matches, had threatened to carry off the honours with its strong batting and hostile fast attack. However, the Canterbury combination gave a fine performance in the field, holding eight catches to dismiss the opposition for a meagre 77 runs. For Canterbury, Leigh Banks, who captured 23 wickets over the five days of the tournament with his left arm fast-medium deliveries, and Anthony Brinkers, an unorthodox left arm spinner, captured nine of the wickets that fell, including that of the Otago star, I. Rutherford, who finished the tournament with an aggregate of over 400 runs.

Thus Canterbury’s task seemed far from impossible when the openers went to the wicket. But the pitch had cut up badly and after a good middle-order partership between Gary Smith (18) and Nicholas Dierck (20) the side collapsed to be 61 for 9 at tea. With the fiery Otago bowlers exploiting a lively wicket to the full, defeat seemed inevitable. However, Phillip Harris, batting with maturity and courage against a barrage of shortpitched “fliers,” steered his side closer to victory, until in an atmosphere of extreme tension he hit the winning runs with a flowing cover drive. This last-wicket partnership between Harris and

the defiant number eleven batsman, A. Brinkers, realised 30 invaluable runs for the Canterbury team and also, marked one of the more dramatic high points of the tournament.

The final against Nelson was less exciting in that when the Nelson captain declared after more than three hours batting, Canterbury was left only two hours to score 167 for victory. Credit is due to the Nelson batsmen for some solid and watchful performances, notably from G. Scott who hit a sound 70 and consolidated on what was a sound top-order performance. Although the Canterbury side batted attractively, the target proved too difficult against accurate bowling by the' Nelson medium pacers and the Canterbury team was finally dismissed 63 runs short of victory. Mr D. Cockbum, one of the Canterbury selectors, considers the Nelson team a worthy victor as the “team was outstanding in all facets of play.” It is, however, a reflection on the even standard of the teams at the tournament, that the South Island team selected after

the tournament included three players each from the Otago, Canterbury and Nelson associations. The majority of the players in the Canterbury team proved their worth in one of more facets of the game. Several Canterbury players, notably G. Smith, B. Bhana and K. Page, whose tournament experience was limited, showed the necessary temperament for the “big occasion.” Most of the batsmen had at least one good score, and the bowling rewards were distributed equally among the fast and slow bowlers. The side’s fielding was generally adequate, and at times, it became inspired, due in large part to the agile and confident performance as wicket keeper of Graham Gordon. It was unfortunate that this year an inter-island match could not be arranged, for if the North Island tournament at Napier produced as many splendid individual and team' performances as did the Nelson gathering such a match would unearth even finer talent and would be a fitting tribute to the dedicated administrators of .junior cricket in this country.