Will Marist have the luck of the Irish?

Press, 27 April 1984, Page 15

Will Marist have the luck of the Irish?

The management committee of the Canterbury Cricket Association will meet on May 1 to consider the application by the Marist club for senior status. The association has the ticklish task of balancing its philosophy of fostering and promoting cricket in Canterbury against the thorny problem of fitting an extra side into what has been a cosy eight-team competition for many years. Marist is the only club in second grade that does not have a senior side and it has applied for the top grade several times in the past. The last attempt was in the spring when its application was rejected. Since this latest decision, the Marist club has been diligently attempting to fulfil the criteria it considers necessary to win selection to the premier grade. Whether the club has satisfied these demands will be up to the committee to decide. Marist considers it has fulfilled all the conditions required and believes the elevation of the club can only help promote cricket in Canterbury. Its first major task for the season was winning the second grade competition. It completed this assignment in decisive fashion, winning seven of its nine two-day matches outright, the other two being rain-affected, and two of its four one-day games. Its winning margin of 23 points was the largest in any grade of the C.C.A. competitions. The club has also negotiated with a local council for extra pitches next season, with the aim of

By

DAVID TRIST

having a strip suitable for senior matches in two seasons. To bolster its playing strength, the club has enlisted the talents of David Trist for next season and will also gain the services of the top senior wickettaker of the last two years, Gary MacDonald. Two former Canterbury players have also shown an interest. These players will add experience to a side which included nine players aged 22 or under in its squad of 15 last year. In assessing the Marist application the committee has three options. It can reject the proposal, accept Marist and have a nineteam competition with a bye, or find another side to accompany Marist into the senior grade. Finding an extra side is almost impossible. Country clubs and suburban teams are happy in their own competitions and the impracticabilities of a repre-

R. T. BRITTENDEN

sentative second grade side or colts team are too great to make these options feasible. A nine-team competition is possible, incorporating Saturday and Sunday play. Each side would still play every week-end but would be required to play, on average, three Sundays a season. Several clubs believe this too clumsy, with the possibility of rain on only one day of a week-end upsetting the balance of the competition. Too many senior sides on Hagley Oval is another reason forwarded for keeping the competition to eight sides. Other clubs think that senior play on Sunday will affect six-a-side events, oneday competitions and limited-over knock-out matches. It may be that some clubs see the possible inclusion of Marist as a threat to a wellestablished senior family. Senior clubs are not keen on promotion-relegation schemes. Each knows, all too well, what would happen if it did not have a senior side. Soon after the war, a promotion-relegation scheme was introduced. It was hastily abandoned when the first team scheduled to be dropped was an oldestablished club. The Technical Club, now amalgamated with Lancaster Park, made strenuous efforts in the 1960 s to get back the senior status it had straight after World War 11. One of its players of that day says that his club played at least six grading

or promotion-relegation matches, each over two days. Notwithstanding repeated requests for the dates to be brought forward, he says, each of the matches was played at the end of March or in MarchApril; every one was affected by weather. Technical’s efforts failed. The Marist club is afraid its application will be turned down for what it regards as the wrong reasons. Each senior club is protective of its own position and worried that Marist will poach some of its players. Other clubs are concerned that the supply of young players they attract from Catholic schools will be stifled if these cricketers head to Marist. Over the years many players who have had Marist as their first choice have gone to other clubs because they offer senior play. Some clubs believe the standard of senior cricket in Christchurch is weak and there should be fewer sides in the competition, not an extra one. Marist sees the position as one where it is offering many of its young players senior experience and thereby strengthening the grade by introducing new talent. Bringing a player of Trist’s ability and experience back into the game also strengthens the competition, it believes. When assessing the Marist case, one of the first questions to be considered is whether many of the arguments are based on selfpreservation or a genuine concern that cricket in Canterbury will be weakened by the inclusion of another club.