Canty needs quick bowling pts

Press, 17 February 1978, Page 24

Canty needs quick bowling pts

From

R. T. BRITTENDEN.

in Wellington

I Wellington has several strong cards in its hand when it meets Canterbury at the Hutt Recreation Ground today in the final of the second section of the Shell Trophv cricket competition.

The ace is its one-point lead on the table, for it is probablv worth more than its face' value. It means that Canterbury will have to seek, first, an advantage of at least two in performance points, for there can be no certaintv that the game will go its full distance, or that it will not be abbreviated by rain.

If the Canterbury captain, Maurice Ryan, has his customarv luck'with the toss, he is likely to have Wellington batting! He will aim for quick bowling points, as an insurance against a shortened game. Performance ooints count only after four hours’ play, and the whole pattern of the series this year has been for sides to win more bowling than batting points. A well-grassed pitch _ at the recreation ground might give seam bowlers encouragement on the first morning. But Wellington has a second advahtage, in that it can call on its best team. Canterbury will be without Dayle Hadlee, who returned home after the first test, because of strained muscles in his side.

Even if Canterbury has three other test bowlers available — Bevan Congdon, Richard Hadlee and Stephen Boock — there must be a distinct prospect of them being somewhat jaded after the gruelling battle at the Basin Reserve. Boock will probablv be the exception. He bowled only 10 overs in ’the test.

But Canterbury has shown resilience in all its matches and the bowlers may be sufficiently motivated to rise to the occasion. Richard Hadlee’s pace support will come from Stephen Bateman, a very promising young cricketer who will be in his first Shell Series game, and probably from lan Wilson,

I the Sydenham left-hand [bowler. Warren Eddington, who played in four Of the earlier Shell games, is likely |to be twelfth man.

Canterbury will need a better level of batting than lit has had earlier in the season. It has been by and large a bowlers’ season but Canterbury has had far more failures than the standing of its players would have suggested ' was possible at the start of the campaign. The most consistent has been Murray Parker, but of his nine scores over 20, only one was over 50. A major innings from Parker seems a strong possibility.

Wellington has had only two wins this season, compared with Canterbury’s four, largely through lack of support for Ewen Chatfield.

But Brian Cederwall bowled well in Wellington's most recent match, and the left-arm spinner, Evan Gray, has returned to the side. The aggressive hitter, Harry Morgan, is also in the team and his seam bowling should be value.

Wellington is strong at the top of its batting order, but there is a sizeable tail. Bruce Edgar, an aggressive lefthander, has had five halfcenturies already this season. Graham Newdick started well and both John Morrison and Jeremy Coney are overdue for big scores. Russell Kean, the hard-hitting Gary Allen and Morgan are the other best prospects for runs. The match today will start at 11.30 a.m. and goes on until the extraordinary hour of 7.30 p.m. It was raining in Wellington yesterday but the forecast is for fine, cool weather today. Teams are:—

Wellington: J. Coney (cantain), B. Edgar, G. Newdick, J. Morrison, R. Kean, H. Morgan, B. Wanden, B. Cederwall, R. Vance, E. Gray, E. Chatfield, G. Allen. Canterbury: M. Ryan (Captain), P. Coman. B. Hadlee, M. Parker, P. McEwan. D. Stead, B. Congdon, R. Hadlee. W. Eddington, S. Boock. 'T. Wilson, G. Smith.