Shell Cup prospects on trial tomorrow

Press, 14 December 1985, Page 80

Shell Cup prospects on trial tomorrow

Canterbury will give its supporters a pointer to its prospects of success in the upcoming Shell Cup cricket competition when it meets Wellington in a 50-over match at Burnside Park tomorrow.

the game, which will begin at 11.30 a.m., will be played according to the Shell Cup format, with coloured clothing, white balls and black sightscreens all being used. However, unlike the Cup matches after Christmas, there will be no pre-match debate on who should carry the drinks for the respective teams tomorrow. Steve McNally is unavailable for Canterbury, having a Übix Cup zone match for North Canterbury against Marlborough instead, while Well-

ington will come south with 11 players. David Boyle will fill the role for both teams. On that count alone, the match is an important one for the talented Sydenham cricketer, Peter Kennedy. Kennedy began the club season with an übeaten century against Riccarton and has an average of 47 at present. His ability to bowl tidy medium pace could also be useful against a Wellington team which, in spite of being well below strength, should still pose a solid challenge. Just as Kennedy, who is missing from the Shell Trophy team, has a point to prove, so to do two members of the Wellington eleven, Ross Verry, and Wayne Aberhart. They have missed selection for the

Shell Cup squad, with Bruce Edgar and Ewen Chatfield getting those opening batting and bowling places respectively. Verry will open the batting with Justin Boyle, soon to return to Canterbury, while the captain, Robert Vance, Evan Gray, Andrew Jones, Tim Ritchie, and Ervin McSweeney, will be expected to provide the bulk of the runs.

One of the game’s most interesting personal battles should be that between the Canterbury captain, John Wright, and the England fast bowler, Paul Allott, who is in Wellington for the season. If Allott and his fellow medium-pacers, Aberhart, and the promising David Molony, can break through the top order, Can-

terbury’s middle and lower order batsmen will get an opportunity to show its capabilities. The crowd — and the Canterbury Cricket Association is doubtless hoping for an indication that this season will produce more revolutions of the turnstiles than 1984-85 - will be eager to see Richard Hadlee perform. Wright, in his first match as Canterbury captain, will be just as eager to start off on the right foot with a victory, and he will not be at all concerned if it is considerably more comfortable than on the last occasion the teams met at Burnside Park, two years ago. Then, Canterbury got home by two wickets with three balls to spare.