SIDELINES

Press, 19 November 1982, Page 23

SIDELINES

NEW ZEALAND will play its three section rivals twice in the preliminary rounds of the Prudential World Cup cricket tournament in England in June. The semi-finals of the knockout tournament will be at The Oval and Old Trafford on June 22 and the final will be at Lord's on June 25.

THE DATES and venues of New Zealand's section (/ames are: June 9. v. England. The Oval; June 11, v. Pakistan, Edgbaston; June 13: v. Sri Lanka, Bristol: June 15, v. England. Edgbaston; June 18, v. Sri Lanka, Derby; June 20, v. Pakistan. Trent Bridge.

THE SENIOR cricket match between Lancaster Park and High School Old Boys is the first to be played at the Ensors Road ground. The occasion did not go unmarked when the game began. A trial ball was bowled by Bill Dennis, president of the Lancaster Park club, with Merv Sibley, a life member of the Technical club, batting. Technical has amalgamated with Lancaster Park this season. To keep an eye on things, Brian Eathorne, the Park club captain, was also there. The fusion of the Technical and Park clubs made the Ensors Road ground available.

TO BRING the pitch up to senior standard, the former Lancaster Park groundsman, Cyril Barnes, worked for weeks, and there is no doubt that the ground is an acquisition to senior cricket. The boundary line was well marked, and the Lancaster Park flags as sighters looked splendid. There was even a sight screen, of sorts — a large sheet draped in the trees at the railway line end. The only drawback was the slow outfield — the grass was much too long.

WHAT AWFUL problems the lovely Maori language posed for the British. Not pronunciation, it should be hastily added, but in the spelling department. One of the most eminent of British Sunday newspapers carried a preview of the tour. Apart from noting that the likely first-choice first five-eighth (and so it ultimately proved, with difficult consequences) would be Pu Wylie, the article went on to talk about the wings. One was Mike Clamp, and the other read like something from the Australian outback. Rob Qururindi.

IP THE NAME of Kururangi was spelt out badly over the telephone, there might be some excuse. But not for the first New Zealand lady of British opera. The major rival of the aforementioned quality newspaper had a reference to Dame Kiri Te (OK so far) Kanawaher. And before we leave the Brits, yet another (daily) newspaper tells us that George Nepia, who could well be a member of the Maoris team, such has been his media attention, was known as the Black Panther. What would the old B.P. himself, Waka Nathan, make of that? AND SURELY Nepia did not line up for his “first senior match for Hawke’s Bay” at the age of 15 as a hooker, as the same article stated. It also said he then became a flanker, in opposition to Cyril Brownlie, though flankers were not a part of the 2-3-2 scrum, before settling on full-back a matter of months before touring Britain with the Invincibles. He was the one Invincible part of that team, playing in every match. SOME BACK-PATTING for journalists now, though much closer to home: from the president of the Canterbury Provincial Golf Association this week. Matthew Robinson, speaking to the annual presidents’ and secretaries’ dinner on the one hand praised Christchurch media coverage of the Freyberg Rose Bowl tournament; and on the other, attacked weekly newspaper coverage of the alleged clash between the director and host of the B.P. New Zealand Open at Shirley this month. He found reporting “refreshing,” said Mr Robinson, “provided it is based on personal observation by the reporter and is not served up, as happens from time to time, as long-range missiles by some expert with all the inside knowledge.”

TWO SENIOR cricketers reached personal milestones when club matches were played last Friday. Graeme Pulley (EastShirley) made only 10 but it was more than enough to take him past 3000 runs in the top grade. George Carnoutsos (Sydenham) reached 1000 runs in senior cricket. MARTIN CROWE’s century for Brian Close's International XI at Scarborough against Pakistan a couple of months ago marked his debut in first-class cricket in England. He was lbw to the tourists’ manager, Intikhab Alam, who could well have been playing his final match. ■What about the man who got the opposition together, however? Brian Close played in the match at the age of 51; and joined the "club" of men to play the first-class game in five different decades, one of whom, Fred Titmus, also appeared in 1982. Students of this column might remember that -a couple of years ago we tentatively closed the “list” at 10, though we expressed a hope that both Close and Jim Parks might pop out of the woodwork for a game in the 1980 s. One down . . . THE STAR attraction at the Air New Zealand-Shell Golf Open, at Titirangi early next month, will be, undoubtedly, the American Bruce Lietzke. Late last month, he was twelfth in the money-earners’ list on the United States circuit, with

$217,447. AMID THE GLUT of summer cycling, there is a newcomer to the scene. The Hornby amateur club is running criterium events on a small block in the region of Riccarton Racecourse, bounded by O’Briens and Racecourse Roads, <?n Monday evenings. The block is a shade under a kilometre in circumference, and the opening race, this, week, was 20 laps. Both open and novice faces are scheduled regularly.