Selwyn Maister not finished

Press, 27 January 1979, Page 12

Selwyn Maister not finished

Exclusion from the New Zealand hockey squad io play in the Perth International tournament in April will not mean the end of first-class hockey for the Canterbury captain, Selwyn Maister. Maister’s international career stretches back to 1965 and throughout it he has been regarded as one of the most accomplished centre-halves in the world.

When the Perth squad was announced late in December, without Maister, he would not say whether it spelt the end of his international career. He has since considered his position and has decided he will be available for New Zealand if required. “I will be playing club hockey and provincial hockey this year if selected. That will mean I will be doing as much training as in other years so I see no reason to make myself unavailable for New Zealand. At 32, I

think I still have a few years play left in me.”

Whether Maister will play for New Zealand again is debatable. He would certainly be the match of any player in the squad named for Perth, but he has obviously been passed over to allow the selectors to pursue a policy of introducing younger players to the national team in preparation for the defence of the Olympic gold medal in Moscow next year. If the New Zealand defence does not perform any better at Perth than it did in the International Champions tournament in Pakistan last November, Maister might be accepted gratefully back into the squad.