Fabish in team

Press, 6 March 1978, Page 6

Fabish in team

By RAY CAIRNS Michael Richards, as expected, heads the list of cycling nominations for the Edmonton Commonwealth Games, but less expectedly, Michael Fablsh has also earned a nomination. The national cycling selectors (Messis G. W. Sharrock, W. W. Thorpe and J. W. Broome) yesterday named the eight track riders to join the alreadyannounced road squad, and for the most part, they sprung no surprises. Richards has been nominated for the kilometre time trial, the 4000 m individual pursuit—he is national champion and a Games medal contender in both—and the 10 miles, and his selection | for the latter gives New Zealand a strong hand. His team-mates are Anthony ;Cuff and Neil Lyster, first and second in the national championship and two with respected records as scratch race finishers.

These two are also members of' the pursuit team—Jack Swart i and Kevin Blackwell, both of i Waikato, are the others—which has been seeded second and de-1 servediv so on the strength of| its New Zealand record and Com-j monwealth-elass time of 4min 34.8 sec at Levin recently. SwaTtj too has another event, the individual pursuit. That squad is followed by the road nominations: Gary Bell, Vein Hanaray, Blair Stockwell and Steve Cox. in that order, and then there are the other three [nominations for the track whose [eventual selection will probably be an arguing point for Mr Sharrock. Eric McKenzie, the junior, and Kevin McComb have been nominated as a tandem combinatioi, land nothing else, and Fabish has [been put forward for the kilo.metre time trial, the event in i which he set a national record lot Imin 9." sec at Cooks Gardens Hast month. McKenzie and McComb certainly have a record to reaped on the bicycle built for two, wininlng the last two national titles 'and not being beaten in either series. And a likely small Bold lat the Commonwealth Gaines suggests they would bo a medal I prospect. Fabish has that splendid kilometre time as a credential, and he has had a consistent series of times throughout the season. However, he was a dlsappointment at the Healing national

[Championships, just concluded, and the only factor that may help was that he had recently suffered Illness and this Was known to the selectors—cycling and Games. No rider has been named for the sprints, and Mr SharrOck said this was In line with tho panel’s policy that it would not nominate for an event unless it was satisfied tho standard was there and that a nomination could be justified for all his events. “We don’t think that standard is there, at a Commonwealth level, but we are looking at the young ones, and we think they are developing,” said Mr Sharrock. But it requires little imagination to work out that If all tiie nominations are eventually approved, New Zealand will then have sprinters slotted into that event at Edmonton. Fablsh, twice the national champion until his unexpected demise this year, s.nd McKenzie, the junior champion of the last two years, are obvious men for that event, and McComb—the conqueror of Fabish as it happens—could be used there, too. Similarly. Cuff and Swart, both with subHmln llsec kllomet’e rides this season, could be Uiid ias the third man In that event.