Park shuts up shop to secure senior title

Press, 30 March 1981, Page 30

Park shuts up shop to secure senior title

Bv

R. T. BRITTENDEN

Lancaster Park marked its centennial year by winning the A.N.Z. Bank senior cricket championship yesterday, and it was clearly the best team in the competition.

It closed up its game with St Albans to win on the first innings. Few would blame Park for making sure of the title, but it did bring the season to a dismal end. St Albans made all the play, and some assertive batting left Park 150 minutes to make 134. However, the first run was scored from the last ball of the ninth over, and long before that Park had declared its intentions. At the close it had made 59 for one from 52 overs.

St Albans began the day with a lead of 25 and eight sec o n d-innings wickets standing. But the day began late. Not a ball had been bowled on Saturday, and yesterday’s start was- delayed until 1 p.m., with the pitch looking like the middle of a sawdust-strewn circus ring. Lancaster Park needed only the first-innings win, and started with fully defensive fields — no slip for the medium-pacers. St Albans’ task was made the more d ifficult by the slow outfield.

There was a very fine innings by Graham Moore, however, who punched the ball hard and sometimes high to reach 40. George Nicoll also batted very aggres-

sively, getting down the pitch to drive fiercely, and he brought off some strong square cuts. .He did show some reluctance, however, to take off on the daring runs called for by his partners. But finally he did accept a request and as he was reaching the nonstrikers end a wild return had the ball parting his hair. A little shaken, he pulled up about 10m past the crease, only to discover that Max Bremner was off for a second run. It must have seemed like a mini-marathon for Nicoll, but he arrived at the far end, just ahead of a scattering of stumps and a moment later was on his knees, either from exhaustion or in thanksgiving. Bremner, only a youngster, also batted very ably, and St Albans did well to score so freely, for Lancaster Park’s bowling rate was absurdly slow. The run-ups were not firm, and there had to be a lot of ball drying and cleaning, but the fielding side made the most of its opportunities. In the first hour 11 overs were bowled and St Albans scored 45 for one. In the next 60 minutes, another 12 overs were sent down, and they cost St Albans four wickets, for 52 runs.

Bruce Irving made the last catch — a fine one-handed overhead affair — and that brought his senior catches to 147 — only one behind the all-time record set by lan Cromb. Six of the wickets, five during the afternoon, were taken by Date Dempsey, and if they were his first wickets of the season he earned them. He bowled, in the main, the right line and length to dismiss batsmen intent on scoring quickly, whatever the cost.

Dempsey opened the Lancaster Park innings with Tony Collins. Casting Collins in a completely defensive role was rather like asking the Wizard to become a Trappist monk, but to his eternal credit Collins followed team orders to the letter. He was in almost tw .nd-a-half hours for 10 not out. St Albans never looked like making the swift advances it needed. There was nothing in the pitch for the medium-pacers, and although both left-arm spinners, Andrew Nuttall and Mark Priest, spun the ball appreciably, it was slow turn.

There were some aggressive shots. Graham Kench’s first scoring stroke was a six, and that took him to 1000 senior runs, but Collins

had three runs after an hour. It was dull fare: but it would have been a travesty of justice had Lancaster Park been denied the title, for it had been clearly superior to its rivals from the start of the season. ST ALBANS First innings, 185. • Second innings R. W. Moore c Kench b Luke 24 It. M. Carter b Dempsey 28 D. W. Wild c Kench b Andrews 2 R. W. Moore c Kench b Luke 34 G. B. Nichol! c Geary b Dempsey 31 M. W. Priest b Luke 0 M. C. Bremner b Dempsey 24 P. D. Rutledge c Latham b Dempsey 1 R. M. McNally c Irving b Dempsey 8 A. J. Nuttall not out 3 Extras <lb3, nb3> 6 Total for nine wkts (dec.) 177 Bowling: D. G. Trist, 10. 3, 24, 0; T. E. Luke, 17, 3, 50. 2; B. C. Irving, 6,2. 6,0; M. C. Chamberlain, 7,2, 25 0; B. Andrews. 14. 4. 31, 1: D. A. Dempsey, 14.1, 3. 34, 6; R. T. Latham, 2.1, 1, 0. LANCASTER PARK First innings, 229. Second innings A. E. Collins not out 10 D. A. Dempsey c McNally b Priest 27 G. L. Kench not out 20 Extras (bl, Jbl) 2 Total for one wkt 59 Bowling: L. A. Watson, 8. 5, 9 0; A. J. Nuttall, 21, 17, 18, 0; R.’ S. McNally, 3. 2,1, 0; M. W Priest, 11, 7. 20, 1; D. J. Wild, 5, 3, 6. 0; R. M. Carter 2,2, 0,0; R. W. Moore, 2,0, 3, 0.