Marist quits ‘test’ series

Press, 9 December 1983, Page 34

Marist quits ‘test’ series

By

JOHN COFFEY

Alby' Duckmanton, the chairman of the Canterbury Cricket' Association, said yesterday that he was “extremely disappointed” that the Marist club had withdrawn from its three evaluation games against firstgrade teams. .Marist, which has an 11point lead in the secondgrade championship, was to have played Old Collegians over the next two Sundays, and High School Old Boys and Burnside-West University after the Christmas recess. However, the Marist club captain, Dave Lobb, said yesterday that his members felt they had “everything to lose and nothing to gain”

from the matches. Inquiries had revealed that Old Collegians would have been without half of their regular first grade players because of representative and other commitments. “We will probably lose some face by withdrawing, but we feel that we have nothing to gain,” said Mr Lobb. Marist will continue to press its case for promotion, with victory in the secondgrade championship being its first target in seeking to persuade the C.C.A. that the club is worthy of a rise in status. “The whole basis of comparison with first grade sides in the three Sunday fixtures did not appeal to

us, even had the other teams been of full strength," said Mr Lobb. “We do not maintain that our present side is good enough for senior cricket."

Mr Lobb said his club still hoped that a tenth team — from country suburban, or a colts combination — would apply for first grade standing. As an alternative, a bye could be avoided in a nineteam competition by playing both Saturdays and Sundays, with one club having a double-headed draw each round. Marist’s withdrawal from the evaluation games would prevent the C.C.A. grading committee from considering its strength, said Mr Duckmanton.

“It is a shame that Marist

did not decide to at least play this one (against Old Collegians) and assess the worth then,” he said. “The scheduling of the games was not just, as someone suggested, a trade-off to keep Marist quiet.” Mr Duckmanton said that most first-grade teams were weakened by representative duties during the first-class season, but that did not cause others to default. Marist had in effect neglected another opportunity to prove its point. The door was still open to Marist, Mr Duckmanton said, and he would not discount promotion-relegation as one of the avenues towards altering the firstgrade format.