A Canterbury cap for W. A. Thomson?

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32736, 13 October 1971, Page 14

A Canterbury cap for W. A. Thomson?

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

If the West ChristchurchUniversity team was set back on the first day of its defence of the cricket championship by Sydenham, it was no surprise to Syden-

ham supporters that the player who did most to demolish the West-University bowling was W. A. Thomson.

The aggressive lefthander made his first appearance for Sydenham as long ago as 1959-60, al-

though he is now only 28 years old. In that opening appearance, although only 16 years old, he made 44 and 18. He played once for the senior team the following season too, and five the summer after that; since then he has been a regular Sydenham player. Although Thomson was a member of the New Zealand under-23 team in 196465, his appearance for that team has been his only one in first-class cricket. That he has not won a place in the Canterbury side reflects highly on the calibre of his opposition, as well as on his own misfortune. Thomson, who loves to attack, has sometimes thrown his wicket away in moments of thoughtlessness. But his ability to make forcing strokes is overlooked by his critics; cricket today can do very well with attacking players. Thomson’s record in the last few seasons argues that he may yet win a Canterbury cap. In 1967-68 he scored 368 runs in senior championship matches, at

36.8. In 1968-69 he made 423 at 26.4, the following summer 417 at 29.8, and last season he topped the senior aggregates with an impressive 657 runs at 34.5.

His century on Saturday was his fifth in senior cricket. The highest of them was 159 against Old Boys in 1967-68. Thomson is a fine fieldsman, with a splendid throw. If he can maintain the form of last season and last Saturday, he must be on the short list for Canterbury selection—especially as the retirement of his brother, K. Thomson, and the departure of T. W. Jarvis has left vacancies in the Canterbury side.