Sell-out expected at Lancaster Park

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 6

Sell-out expected at Lancaster Park

The Canterbury Cricket Association's management committee is confident that the oneday international between England and New Zealand at Lancaster Park on February 26 will be a sell out. Some members confessed to having some doubts initially as to whether 25,000 tickets would be pre-sold, but those doubts have since been removed by the tremendous interest shown in the game.

The committee, at its meeting last evening, discussed the possibility of stopping ticket sales once the 25.000 tickets were sold as that was the figure that could be comfortably accommodated at the ground. . Apart from the players, nobody will be permitted on the Sd before or at anv stage g the match. The committee has not changed its attitude towards Dayie Hadlee, who has coached the Canterbury Shell team this season and who has been included in the squad of 13 from which the team will be selected to piay Northern Districts tomorrow. Hadlee has elected to coach instead of playing earlier this season, but the association has no objection to his fulfilling

the alternative role. A complaint from the St Albans club against Old Collegians for playing Doug McMillan in the second grade last Saturday was upheld and Old Collegians will forfeit the first innings points which it took from the match.

McMillan, who had played in the first grade for almost all of the season, returned from the Canterbury Kiwis tour of Australia the previous day and the intention to play him on the second day of the second grade match had not been relayed to the St Albans captain. Mr P. A. Sharp said that he was at fault and the decision to play McMillan was his -own However, he added that it was done on a selection basis and was in no way an attempt to deceive anyone. The Old Collegians delegate. Mr D. Weaver, said that he agreed with the competitions committee’s recommendation that the club has erred in playing McMillan and that it should forfeit its points but he expressed the same sentiments as Mr Sharp. “The letter of the law was broken, but it was not meant to defeat the spirit of the game."