Commanding position for Burnside-West

Press, 30 January 1984, Page 18

Commanding position for Burnside-West

Bumside-West University worked into a strong position to take outright points against Sydenham after the first day’s play in the sixth round of the Chancery Finance first grade cricket championship on Saturday. The two teams started the round in equal third place, but Sydenham, with only five second-innings wickets remaining, leads by only 74 runs. The other three matches are more evenly balanced, although the bottom-placed Lancaster Park is in a good position to take first-innings points against the secondplaced Old Collegians. East-Shirley also has a firm grip on first-innings points against the higher-placed St Albans, but the other match between Old Boys and Riccarton has a long way to go to find which side will gain the first-innings lead. That match seems bound for a draw. Scores:— High School Old Boys 228 met Riccarton 84/1. Sydenham 71 and 105/5 met Burnside-West University 102/ 4 dec. East-Shirley 213 met St Albans 90/5. Old Collegians 199 met Lancaster Park 108/3. There were no startling individual performances. The only bowler to collect five wickets was David Farrant, who continued his good form with the ball for BurnsideWest University. He took five for his team against Sydenham. Surprisingly, no-one managed to take four wickets. The batting was led by Roger Fuller (Old Collegians) with 73, and half-centuries were scored by Bob Carter (Sydenham), Anup Nathu (Old Boys), Stephen Jeffery (Burn-side-West) and David Grocott (East-Shirley). It was Grocott’s first 50 in senior cricket and the second for Jeffery. SLOW PROGRESS An unbroken second-wicket stand of 7G between Lindsay Thorn and Tim Murdoch has given Riccarton the start it needed in its pursuit of the 229 runs required for first-innings points against High School Old Boys.

Riccarton found progress difficult on the Hagley No. 3 pitch and its 84 runs have taken 140 minutes, the Old Boys bowlers having delivered 45 overs. However, some of the bowling was erratic and the new ball was wasted to a large extent by Mark Ritchie, who was unable to find the right line or length. Old Boys did not aid their chances by missing a stumping and a possible run out. Nevertheless, Thorn, typically pugnacious, and the more fluent Murdoch have done a good repair job after the loss of an early wicket. Old Boys batted for two periods to compile 228. After being sent in to bat, Old Boys were immediately on the back foot when Peter Sullivan held two close-in catches off Phil Stoyanoffs bowling. From four for two, Anup Nathu and Paul Hartland featured in an important thirdwicket partnership which produced 92 runs. Nathu, who must be pressing hard for a place in the Canterbury Shell team, did his prospects no harm with a cultured 61 and the youthful Hartland made a valuable 36. Riccarton was back in command when Old Boys faltered to be 119 for five, but another youthful pair, Jonathon Eaton and David Kerr, batted patiently and sensibly to add 52 for the sixth wicket. The good work was continued by the talented Garry MacDonald, who batted with typical aggression in scoring an unbeaten 40, which included the only six of the match. Stoyanoff proved Riccarton's most penetrative and successful bowler, although Denis Aberhart and Kevin Scott, who bore the brunt of the attack, were reasonably economical. SYDENHAM’S STRIFE Sydenham folded in the morning on an awkward pitch at Burnside Park. By lunch, the side was all out and the Burnside-West openers had had an over’s batting. In the Farrant brothers, Burnside-West had a pair of bowlers ideally suited to the conditions. David, with his

slinging action, whipped the ball into the pitch, and got good response. Tony was no less demanding. With the ball flying at the bat, it flew off it too, and some sharp slips catches were taken, notably by Peter Wallace and David Boyle. Not all the bounce was fast, however. Peter Kennedy was the victim of a ball from David Farrant which stopped before it bounced, and looped through to the 'keeper, brushing a retreating glove on the way. Only Wayne Higgins got into any sort of stride. After he had seen Kevin Congdon and Kennedy depart, Higgins swung into attack boldly and well before being caught on the square-leg boundary. When he was out, the slump began in earnest. Three wickets fell to successive balls, two at the end of an over by David Farrant, the third at the start of a new spell by Andrew Hintz, with the score at 69. Burnside-West declared at tea, a short time after Stephen Jeffery had completed a pleasant 51, from 116 balls. Jeffery generally looked poised and confident, placing his shots neatly. It was difficult to get the ball through to the boundary over the well-grassed outfield. After tea, Sydenham was in further trouble as both openers were out with the score at 11. Kennedy stayed for 44 valuable minutes, then Bob Carter showed some of his best touches in scoring a half-cen-tury off 50 balls. With Ewan Spence, Carter added 57 in 43 minutes. It was a welcome display of authority. Carter was out at 99 and Tom White, who had shown admirable discipline in the first innings, going 30 minutes without scoring, struck out and was caught at mid-off shortly before stumps. Burnside-West had displayed almost all of its wide array of bowling, including some useful spin-bowling from Chris Marks and Russell Haglund. It will take a very determined display by Sydenham to deny the home side an outright victory. EAST SUPERIOR East-Shirley held the upper hand against St Albans on

Hagley No. 1 and deserved its advantage. It proved superior in all aspects, especially in fielding, in which St Albans normally shines.

Four chances were put down by the St Albans fieldsmen, but the East-Shirley fieldsmen were safe and three very good catches were taken, Keith Moorfield taking a magnificent one at point. Lyn Sparks won the toss yet again — he has failed to do so only once this season — and his decision to field looked a wise one at first. He might have had second thoughts at the end of the day. The pitch provided early lift; lan Hogg being dropped off the first ball he faced and Ray Jones being forced to retire temporarily with a facial injury after receiving a rising ball off a good length from Sparks. Hogg’ and Moorfield both batted patiently, then the youthful pair, David Grocott and Gary Jones, were together for 75 runs. Jones hit 36 of his 44 runs in boundaries and drove with great power. Grocott made his first half-century in the first grade. Grocott played an innings of character and concentration. He batted for 139 minutes, faced 145 balls and struck only eight boundaries. John Larter was the pick of the St Albans attack, out all the bowlers would have had better figures if it had not been for lapses in the field at crucial times. St Albans started attacking from the outset, but three of the five wickets to fall before the end of play were the result of impetuous shots. Geoff Smith was unbeaten at stumps; he looked in good form and might be a thorn in the EastShirley side. PARK IN CHARGE Sent in to bat on a rainaffected pitch at Elmwood Park, Old Collegians struggled in the morning against some ill-directed Lancaster Park bowling and did well to finish the first innings with 199. Old Collegians suffered their first set-back after 10 minutes when an opener, Graham Sercombe, had to retire after being struck on the elbow. He returned at the fall of the eighth wicket to make a useful 29. The pitch in the morning was ideal for bowling. There was lift and seam for the medium-paced bowlers and bounce and turn for the spinners. The Lancaster Park medium-pace attack, Simon Millichip, Mark Chamberlain and Trevor Luke, failed to keep a tight enough line and Old Collegians were able to survive. The off-spinner, Bruce Irving, bowled tidily enough, but the most interesting performance came from a young left-armer, lain Boyle. Playing in his first senior match, Boyle was a model of length and accuracy, his 26 overs costing a mere 30 runs. Roger Fuller was the best of the Old Collegians batsmen, and he alone carried the attack to the bowlers in the morning. There was some fine attacking play from Tony Collins, Graham Kench and Millichip on the comparatively docile pitch. Lancaster Park’s 108 for three came up in 30 overs whereas Old Collegian’s 199 took 84 overs. Lindsay Forde bowled his nine overs economically and Richard Hartshorn showed fine control of length and direction.