Burnside-West, Lancaster Park have outright wins

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33154, 19 February 1973, Page 15

Burnside-West, Lancaster Park have outright wins

1 here were two outright decisions in the senior cricket competition on Saturday, and Lancaster Park, already a clear leader, gained one of them.

Lancaster Park soon showed that it intended to attempt an outright win by declaring in its first innings while still behind the Old Collegians total.

The move proved successful; Old Collegians could not repeat its first innings performance, and the side was bundled out for 109. Lancaster Park was untroubled to get the necessary 115 for the win.

Results:— H. 5.0.8., 308/8 declared, drew with Riccarton, 178 and 240/5. East Shirley, 203 and 207/7 declared, drew with Sydenham, 244/7 declared and 100/7. Burnside - West University, 135 and 173/5, beat St Albans, 149/9 declared and 157/8 declared. Lancaster Park, 217/4 declared and 115/4, beat Old Collegians, 222 and 109.

Both Bumside-West University and St Albans adopted positive tactics in their encounter at Ham. Solid batting by the top-order batsmen in the Bumside - West University second innings gave the combined team the win with three overs remaining.

D. W. Stead and G. T. Barrett prevented Old Boys from securing an outright decision when they compiled 152 for the opening partnership after Riccarton had followed on. Sydenham drew with EastShirley in the fourth fixture,

the most notable feats being the two centuries. K. Thomson, the Sydenham captain, reached 114, and P. G. Coman was on the same mark when East declared in the second innings. RESISTANCE Riccarton continued its first innings at 93 for four wickets, but was soon in trouble when its top scorer, P. A. Stubbings, was bowled in A. G. Broughton’s first over. G. A. Miller attacked strongly, and contributed a useful 33, including seven fours, in 37 minutes. before being trapped in front by S. T. Chambers. However, the later Riccarton batsmen failed to master the bowling, and Riccarton was forced to follow-on. 130 runs behind the Old Boys total. D. W. Stead, the Riccarton captain, and G. T. Barrett batted seteadily before lunch, scoring at a run a minute. Stead made his 50 after 84 minutes. This included seven fours.

The opening partnership continued strongly, and the deficit was erased after 110 minutes. Stead was eventually dismissed for 84, which included 12 fours. It was a most valuable innings. Riccarton passed its first innings score with only two wickets down, and the match finished early with Riccarton 240 for five.

K. Thomson quickly reached his century at Burwood Oval when Sydenham resumed its first innings against East-Shirley, although the boundary which brought his 100 was a chance. C. R. W. Dickel gained thei respect of the batsmen and finished with five wickets. He was assisted by good fielding, and P. R. Joyce took a spectacular catch in the outfield to dismiss D. L. Gallop.

P. G. Coman then replied with an unbeaten century for EastShirley. although he was aided by five dropped catches. At 65 for six, East-Shirley was in dire straits, but Coman found an ally in K. R. Hawker, w r ho made a valuable 31 and figured in a 90-run partnership. Sydenham was left 95 minutes to score 167 runs for the outright victory, and made an early attempt to reach the target. However, four wickets fell fairly quickly, and Sydenham was content to play for the draw. Dickel gained three more wickets and A. C. Nottingham also deserved his thre victims. IMPROVEMENT Interest was maintained throughout Burnside-West University’s encounter with St Albans. Accurate bowling by M. G. Webb during the first 30 minutes demolished West’s later batting to give St Albans a first innings advantage of 14. It was obvious that both sides would spend the rest of the day seeking outright victory. Again led by the aggressive and entertaining L. A. Smith, St Albans chased runs from the outset, but after a prosperous opening, the middle-order bats men succumbed to the admirable bowling of C. M. Kirk. However, a responsible and undefeated 41 by the rapidlymaturing D. B. Kennedy rescued his side from considerable embarrassment. and West was left with the task of scoring 172 runs in 150 minutes.

That it succeeded was because of a number of factors. Its second innings batting bore little resemblance to its earlier dismal performance. All batsmen, especially M. A. Fisher, D. C. Saunders and M. J. Rendal, were positive in their approach, and the runs w’ere accumulated with three overs of the final 15 remaining.

St Albans maintained attacking fields throughout, and. if several difficult but crucial chances had been accepted, the result might well have been reversed. The inability of Webb, through injury, to bowl in the latter stages severely hampered its bowling resources, and K. I. Ferries deserves considerable credit for his typically untiring efforts.

However, although West thoroughly deserved its victory, both sides deserve commendation for the aggressive methods employed throughout. OUTRIGHT DECISION

Lancaster Park forced the pace in the morning at Elmwood Park.

A. M. McKendry looked a form batsman, and it was largely because of his efforts that the Innings was declared closed at

1217 with the total five runs behind Old Collegians’. Old Collegians could not, howfever, repeat the performance of the first innings, and the batting looked mediocre against bowling which was accurate and steady. W. R. Wilson and B. C. Irving were the pick of the bowlers, who were assisted by • good wicket-keeping from M. L. Ryan. Ramachandran played some brisk shots in his brief innings, and M. G. Lester also battea with some confidence. With four batsmen scoring in the 20s, Lancaster Park had little trouble getting the 115 runs needed for victory, although the task was made more difficult by some fine fielding and catching from Old Collegians.