LUCKY TOSS FOR CANTERBURY Northern bundled out by pace-spin partnership

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33418, 27 December 1973, Page 18

LUCKY TOSS FOR CANTERBURY Northern bundled out by pace-spin partnership

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

Canterbury took most of the tricks after its captain. K. Thomson, had dealt a powerful hand at the start of the Plunket Shield match with Northern Districts at Lancaster Park yesterday. Sent in on a green pitch sympathetic to seam. Northern was dismissed for 82 and Canterbury replied with 171 for four.

The scoresheets reflect Canterbury’s dominance, after Thomson had won the toss. It was a vital blow, for while there was still movement from the pitch even late in the day, Canterbury’s bowlers, led b\ the aggressive K. I. Ferries, had much the better of it.

Ferries took four for 18 — his hest shield return — and ('. R. W. Dickel eagerly seized three, at minimal cost.

Canterbury’s batting, d successful, was seldom entertaining. If the batsmen had been opposed by a powerful attack on a lively pitch. 171 for four would have been a splendid effort. Almost point It—* But the batting generally was undistinguished, and once a sizeable lead had been won, a more forthright effort should have been made to improve the scoring rate and win more than the one batting point which has so far tome Canterbury's way. Five overs remain, and Canterbury needs 29 runs to win second and third batting points.

Leading Canterbury’s batting was the left-hander from Ashburton, P E. Wallace,

■who has been in four hours I for his 79. For a player in ’only his second shield fixture, he showed commendable application. Accurate Dunning R. M. Gearry, in his tenth first-class match, achieved his first half-century, and although he gave a couple of chances, he hit some fine shots off the front toot. But Canterbury was quite unable to break down the resistance offered by rhe Northern captain, B. Dunning, who bowled 18 successive overs and conceded only 30 runs. Supporting him was E. K. Gillott, with accurate left-arm spinners. For all its favourable posi-1 tion, Canterbury is still short of a three-runs-an-over average. V. Pollard, better able than most, technically and temperamentally, to seize the initiative, struggled for 70 minutes and 21 runs.

All through the day. the cricket was of modest quality. Ferries and C. W. Aldridge. then Dickel, bowled well, but Northern’s batting wounds were largely selfinflicted. Some dreadful strokes led to several of the dismissals The movement off the pitch was sharp, but it could have been countered by an insistence on basic principles. ■Bats were taken wide of bodies, and now and then a : head-up. cross-line stroke brought or threatened disas'ter. Deserved success It was satisfactory, however, to see Ferries win such i spectacular success. He gives I every thing he has to his cricket: his Australian birth no ! doubt accounts in some meajsure for his courage and application. Ferries, after an over, looks! as if he has been bowling for an hour. But yesterday,' he bowled for almost two I hours in his first speil, and! there was no sign of flagging! or failing.

He has the old-fashioned virtues of application and industry. Yesterday, he w’as also able to cut the ball from the pitch, and had it moving in, then out, in sometimes startling fashion. In his first major match, Aldridge also did very well.

He deserved success for, with the ball new, he remembered to keep it on a full length and invite strokes. He thus gave the ball a chance to move late, and he had an impressive start. In his second spell, his direction fell away a little.

Dickel, as enthusiastic a cricketer as there is, spun out a coupie of players and then had R. W. Fulton caught, to end the innings.

Fulton looked the most accomplished of the Northern batsmen yesterday. He was and calm, in the ruins of an innings. Gillott ! helped him with a stoic display, and earlier. J. W. Warirington had shown quality. I He opened, and was sixth iout, for 15, after seeing rather less than his share of the bowling. Warrington, a Gisborne City soccer professional, has batted with success for the Warwickshire second eleven.

When Canterbury batted, N. M. Parker was soon out, as H. Unka moved the ball away from the bat, while maintaining a good line. It was a pity perhaps that Unka had to bowl as many as 11 overs in his first spell, for his accuracy slowly decreased. But he had Gearry in trouble several times, beating him about the off stump. Needed a break Later. Gearry made some fine, firm drives, and his valuable and often attractive innings may lead to more good scores; he seemed to need only a break such as this. Wallace was in dreadful trouble for quite a time. When Unka bowled to him, he seemed to have only one de-

sign—to hit the ball somewhere on the on-side. With this in view he shuffled into and across his stumps to turn the ball away and looked likely to lose his leg stump at any moment.

In time, he began to nudge the ball away on the off side more confidently. It took him three hours of hard labour to reach 50; then he took the stick to the bowling, briefly, and hit some fine strokes, notably a lofted straight, drive for 4, off Gillott.

Two chances missed

t Pollard was troubled by Dunning, taking only five runs from 47 balls the Northern captain bowled to him. Dunning gave a great display of containing bowling, and he had the ball moving enough to be worrisome. Gillott, too, bowled well, and without much luck. Two hard chances were missed from him. If Northern had an unhappy day mathematically, its fighting spirit in the field argued an ability to recover which Canterbury cannot afford to ignore. There was some spectacular stopping of shots, none more colourful than those performed on the boundary by J. G. Gibson, who dived about like a soccer goalie.

And L. S. Mountain, when his thoughts might well have been on the shower and a glass of ale, attempted a legside stumping off Dunning. He showed astonishing speed but] B. G. Hadlee was still safely at home.

It was typical, however, of the Northern team’s eagerness and earnestness, in a very adverse situation.