Cricket nets boy $l300

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34128, 14 April 1976, Page 40

Cricket nets boy $l300

Eleven-x ear-old Richard \\ x les is a richer box b\ $l3OO. thanks to his Knowledge or accurate gucssxxorK <»n cricket, a sport he dropped last summer in tax our of swimming and athletics.

I Richard won the .$l5OO firs' {prize in a competition based {on the Shell cricket series land sponsored by Shell Oil (N.Z), Ltd — but he had a ipact with a young Wellington i friend that if either of them ■ won first prize, they would {give the other $2OO. There were four conditions attached to the competition, the first being to rank the teams in the order they finished the series, and secondly to name the grand final winner This was the easiest for Richard, who is in Form j I at Heaton Intermediate {School: he chose Canterbury ■ every time! { The harder parts were cor[rectiy guessing the number lof wickets which would fall |in the final, and how many runs would be scored in the {same game.

Richard had the miserable summer to thank for his success. His father collected a few forms from a garage and when it was drizzling the [next day, gave them to the two boys to help keep them entertained.

Richard said he completed about 200 forms — entry was free — but kept no record of his various answers. He must have been very close because a consortium of three Christchurch men who put in 1200 entries was only third. And they were only 15 runs away from the 931 total in the match between Canterbury and Otago. About 10 hours, perhaps more, was spent by Richard in sorting out his entries. Not surprisingly, he followed the series on the radio and in “The Press,” although he did not watch much firstclass cricket during the season.

However, he is not the avid cricket follower that his father and 15-year-old brother Jonathon are. He "got

a bit “bored” with cricket early in the season, and turned instead to swimming and athletics at school In the winter. Richard plavs rugby for Christchurch, as .< lock, in the under-12 open grade He has a perfect record in competitions — Richard won six bottles of lemonade in Radio Avon’s “BottJeships competition in the oulv other contest he has entered The money will be used wisely: to buy a semi-racer cycle, mainly for touring, and the balance will be invested