Cricket Youth WEEKLY REVIEW

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33062, 1 November 1972, Page 12

Cricket Youth WEEKLY REVIEW

The first major step towards finding the Canterbury schoolboys’ cricket team to play in the South Island tournament at Rangiora in January was made at the week-end with the announcement of 26 players for trial matches. Burwood Park will be the scene of the first fixture, starting at 12.30 p.m. on Sunday, and the second trial will be held at Ham at 1 p.m. on Show Day, November 10. The successful trialists will be notified on Sunday, November 12. Matches have been arranged against Ashburton and South Canterbury teams for these players the following week-end. The two teams (the captains and vice-captains have still to be named) are:— Probables. — Andrew Guillen, David Kerr, Darryl King (St Albans); Gregory Andrei!, Robert Neilson (East Shirley); David Cornwell (Merivale-Papanui); Vaughan Brown (Sydenham);

Gregory Curtain, Mark Cawthorn, Stephen Cawthorn, Leonard Gee (St Thomas); Glen Boyle (Lancaster Park); Bruce Cooper (Hornby). Possibles. — Peter Davidson, Bart Baker, Bryce Nicholson, Roy Wesney (Bumside-West University); Fraser Todd, Alan Albertson, Bruce Scott, Keith Moorfield, Peter Smylie (East Shirley); Richard Leggatt (Old Collegians); Matthew McGowan, Paul Wallace I (Hornby); David Gillespie (Lancaster Park). To give the batsmen a proper testing, the seven recognised bowlers have been included in the same team. They will all change to the other trial for the second match. Under the guidance of three prominent senior cricketers, P. A. Sharp, J. A. Harrison and D. G. Trist, the boys have been receiving specialist coaching. This instruction has been invaluable and the improvement in technique and stroke play of some players has been startling. Bright sunshine greeted the players when the Junior Advisory Board's competitions continued on Saturday morning, and some of the cricket at Hospital Corner matched the weather. Middleton Grange, which has entered a team in the competition for the first time, was making good progress against Riccarton in a C grade fixture because of some hard hitting by the opener, Michael Vannoort. Opening for the first time, Vannoort looked confident facing all bowlers and his aggressive approach reaped rewards. He was by no means a perfectionist, but had a good eye and reached his half-century with a powerful shot through cover point.

Peter Visser and Stephen Hill, the team’s medium-pace bowlers, and the captain, Rhys Lucinsky, were other promising players in the Middleton Grange XJ. Two successful bowlers in

I the Riccarton team, which (deserves praise for its 'enthusiastic fielding, were Phillip Gruppelaar, a left arm medium pacer who gained I two wickets with consecujtive balls, and the steady (James Haines, who also had gained two deserved wickets. I In a B grade match. Riccarton B was heading (towards a useful score ■ against Heathcote. Two fairly i experienced players. Douglas Bonner, an opener, and Darryl Burt, were both taking advantage of some rather jloose bowling. i Xavier’s bowling was on ! top in an A grade match (against Riccarton A. Tony (Rhodes, maintaining a good (length, had captured four I wickets for eight runs off (four overs, and Stephen Hales, off the same number (of overs, had the fine figures of three wickets for three runs. Only Geoffrey Black was batting with much assurance.