Upsurge in interest

Press, 11 February 1983, Page 24

Upsurge in interest

The exploits of the NewZealand cricketers across the Tasman appear to have caused an upsurge in interest among school pupils, and their parents in Christchurch.

In spite of falling rolls at many high schools, there will be an increase of about 20 per cent in the number of teams taking part in matches under the jurisdiction of the Canterbury Boys’ Cricket Association, which caters for secondary school players.

Before Christmas there were 99 sides; the entries now number 122, with the likelihood, of a few more to come. These figures do not include the 10 first Xis involved in the C.C.A. competitions.

A spokesman for the boys' association Murray Leach, said that facilities and administrators would be placed

under increased pressure by the increases.

“Some schools are finding pitches in all sorts of funny places,” he said. “Christchurch Boys' High School, for example, is cutting pitches that have not been used since 1964.”

Gear was another problem, not just because of the expense, but also because stocks at retail outlets were invariably low in mid-sum-mer. It might be necessary for some sharing to be done between teams.

In situations where teachers were fully committed meetings with parents had been held to ensure the younger players had adequate supervision. Some of the increase at secondary level has been at the expense of the primary schools’ organisation, the Canterbury Junior Cricket

Association. But that body, too. has a record number of teams for the start of a school year. Lindsay Thompson, the president of the junior association, said that the post-holiday transfer of older pupils to secondary schools had reduced the team numbers from 135 to 125. The previous record had been 112. Once again, there is difficulty providing sufficient pitches, although some clubs have assisted by retaining their more youthful players for domestic cricket before entering more sides for competition games. The growth has not been restricted to schoolboys' cricket, either. Mr Leach said that girls’ participation had also experienced a boost.