Canterbury chasing eighth consecutive cricket title

Press, 27 December 1985, Page 8

Canterbury chasing eighth consecutive cricket title

By

MARGARET FRANCIS

Canterbury will be chasing an eighth consecutive national women’s cricket title, when the Hansell’s Cup tournament starts in Christchurch today.

The competition will be held at Hagley Oval, with six teams competing over 10 days, all games being of two days duration. First innings declarations are compulsory after 70 overs. Points are awarded for outright wins and batting and bowling performances, however, there are no first innings points.

Canterbury won the Cup last year in Auckland, with 57 points, four more than North Shore. It had three of the top five batsmen and bowlers at the tournament. This year, however, Canterbury is likely to have a more difficult assignment. Three of Canterbury’s top international players have transferred to other provinces. A basic core of talented players remain with the champion province. Canterbury will again be captained by Lesley Murdoch, a tenacious competitor, who is sure to get the very best out of her players. She will bat at the top of the order, along with the veteran, Ann McKenna, Vicki Burtt and Nicki Turner, presenting a solid start to the lineup. In the middle order, Karen Gunn, who averaged 68.50 at the last tournament, Brigit Legg, Sue Brown, Kirsty Bond and Deborah Ford, are all distinctly useful batsmen, along with Catherine Campbell, Rebecca Millichip and Delwyn Costello.

In a game with a compulsory declaration mark, quick runs are most important, and it is expected that Burtt, Turner, Gunn and Legg will have vital roles to perform in this regard. All are powerful hitters and really able to force the pace. The key to Canterbury’s bowling attack lies with Brown. After a year’s break, she has quickly got back into top form. Her in swing bowling is not only accurate but also penetrative, capable of providing problems for opposing batsmen. She has been the leading wicket-

taker at a number of tournaments — at her last tournament, she took a prodigious 38 wickets in five games. The attack will also open with Legg, one of the few bowlers in the country with genuine pace. A trio of very accurate medium-pacers provide the back up. In club cricket this season, Millichip has 32 wickets to her credit, while Costello and Bond have been parsimonious in their concession of runs. The spinners job will be performed solely by Campbell, who has bowled with maturity and guile this season, already having taken 35 club wickets. Canterbury has an active and agile wicket-keeper in Gunn. The fielding should be of a high standard, particularly with the preparation put in by its coach, Dayle Hadlee. Bond, Ford and Legg are likely to shine in this department. North Shore is sure to provide Canterbury with its most demanding opposition. It has a formidable lineup, including the brilliant allrounders who have moved north from Canterbury, Sue Rattray and Debbie Hockley. There are six current international batsmen in their lineup — Hockley, Rattray, Di Sim, Lois Simpson, Janette Dunning and Ingrid Jagersma.

Another international, Molly Molloy, spearheads the bowling attack, along with the former New Zealand players, Linda Fraser and Eileen Badham. Rattray and Dunning will form a wily spin attack, while the wicket-keeper, Jagersma, was named on the recent English tour as the player of the series.

There is a strong Canterbury flavour in the composite Southern Districts team. It' is led by Jenny Olson, who has shown outstanding form with the bat in club cricket lately. Her experience will be invaluable to a largely young side. For the first time, Southland is represented in the side with two all-rounders, Mary Ann Potae and Justine Russell.

From Otago, there is the promising Kathryn Ryan, the remaining nine coming from Canterbury. Carol Fleming will open the innings with Olson, while Sarah Illingworth, Vivienne Cowles, Sheree Harris and Kay Wickes will form the middle order.

Harris, Tracy McNamara and Jenny Turner can expect plenty of work with back up from Potae, Ryan and Russell. Auckland can be relied on to provide a tight bowling attack, with Shona Gilchrist, Susan Morris and Christine Marshall always difficult to score from. Yvonne Kainuku

and Sharron Todd are also expected to do well. The team’s batting lineup is less experienced and the bulk of the runs are likely to come from the captain, Jenny Strickland and the all-roun-ders, Marshall, Morris, Todd and Gilchrist.

The Wellington side will again be captained by Mary Harris. A former Canterbury all-rounder, Nancy Williams, will be the vicecaptain and will provide depth in the middle order batting. She will also bowl useful off-spinners, along with Denise Asserton. The runs should come from Harris, Williams, Suz-

anne Hall, Ingrid van der Else and Di Malthus. Central Districts has two present internationals in its side, Liz Signal and Jackie Clark. Signal will be the main strike bowler and will open the attack with the left-armer, Mary O’Connell. The batting will be opened by Clarke and the New Zealand reserve player, Penny Kinsella.

At the end of the tournament, the New Zealand team will play three oneday internationals against Australia. With 30 past or present New Zealand players at the tournament, and a number of very promising players also participating, competition for places will be particularly keen.