Tough opponent for Canterbury in cup opener

Press, 27 December 1985, Page 26

Tough opponent for Canterbury in cup opener

By

JOHN COFFEY

Brian Salt, the Canterbury cricket selection convener, was not giving belated notification of an old clubmate’s retirement when he suggested yesterday that the provincial first XI might be short of a gallop at Ashburton today.

Indeed, that particular Gallop — Dave — will be fulfilling his present role as C.C.A. treasurer when Canterbury begins its Shell Cup limited-over campaign against Auckland at the Ashburton Domain. The comments of Mr Salt were made as he surveyed yet another saturated playing field, and referred to the very limited amount of practice that Canterbury’s A and B squads have managed to obtain in recent weeks. “Just under half of the scheduled sessions have been wiped out,” said Mr Salt “Hie guys have tried to fit in extra nights, but that was not possible because Christmas was so close.” Mr Salt praised the efforts of the Lancaster Park groundsman, Russell Wylie, who “has done more than we could reasonably expect” to provide suitable practice facilities. As the skies above Christchurch brightened yesterday afternoon ground staff and volunteers accelerated the tasks of readying Lancaster Park for the Shell Cup second round fixture against Northern Districts on Sunday and Hagley Oval for the national women’s tournament, which starts today, and Canterbury’s second XI match against Otago B from Sunday until Tuesday. If Canterbury’s cup team is in no danger of being over-trained, Mr Salt finds cause for optimism in the excellent spirit which has

been developed. Canterbury has a mcdest record in one-day competitions, but only three points separated the six district sides after the round-robin series last summer before Central Districts upset Wellington in the final. This time there is no play-off for the top platings and the biggest share of the $4500 prize money. A sluggish opening would result in a team being eliminated from contention in just three days, and it is to Canterbury’s advantage that it is “at home” for the first two rounds against opponents that it beat on tour a season ago. Ashburton, Tauranga (Northern Districts v. Wellington) and New Plymouth (Central Districts v. Otago) are the venues for the introduction of coloured clothing into cup cricket The change from traditional white equipment, and the presence of black sightscreens and white balls will be the most visible of several rule variations which align the cup competition with its Australian counterpart Peter Kennedy and Shaun Tracy, the newcomers to Canterbury’s line-up, have special incentives to seek peak performances today. Kennedy was chosen only in the cup team and is within a few productive innings of making his Shell Trophy debut, while Tracy would relish the chance of making an indelible impression on his former team-mates.

Even without the injured Jeff Crowe, Auckland has a formidable appearance. Its six past or present internationals are complemented by such emerging youngsters as Mark Greatbatch and Willie Watson, the latter already a strong candidate for the national limited-over squad to be announced on New Year’s Eve.

Auckland has the perennial problem of deciding what tactics to adopt against Richard Hadlee’s exceptional bowling skills. At Eden Park No. 2 last December the Aucklanders prevented Hadlee from Breaking through, but managed to wrest only nine runs from as many overs and additional pressure was placed on the later batsmen. Today Auckland has John Bracewell back in his occasional role as opening batsman. Bracewell shares with Hadlee a reputation of being among the sport’s most aggressive characters, and the approach might be different.

The teams are — Auckland: Martin Snedden (captain), Trevor Franklin, John Bracewell, John Reid, Peter Webb, Mark Greatbatch, Tom Hellaby, Alan Hunt, Stu Gillespie, Paul Kelly, Gary Troup, Willie Watson. Canterbury: John Wright (captain), Anup Nathu, Paul McEwan, Rod Latham, Vaughan Brown, Peter Kennedy, David Stead, Richard Hadlee, Ash Hart, Steve McNally, Craig Thiele, Shaun Tracy.