Memorable debut as captain for Latham

Press, 27 October 1986, Page 19

Memorable debut as captain for Latham

By

JOHN COFFEY

Rod Latham’s first appearance as captain of a Canterbury XI was made all the more memorable by his own innings of 94 in the ' 161-run victory over Ashburton-South Canterbury in a 60-over cricket match at Ashburton yesterday. A fifth-wicket partnership between Latham and Russell Haglund — worth 133 runs, scored at an increasingly brisker rate — provided the Canterbury XI with a total well out of the reach of the country players. The Canterbury innings finished at 311 for eight wickets. The Combined side probably deserved some credit for almost getting half-way to its near-impossible target after batsmen had been dismissed in each of the first three overs.

Canterbury benefited from useful contributions by Anup Nathu, Paul McEwan and Vaughan Brown, and the Country bowlers had begun to wilt under the very warm sun by the time that Haglund joined his captain.

That was in the thirtieth over, with the total at 99 for four. Latham and Haglund concentrated on consolidating the situation

before accelerating the .tempo. Their first 10 overs together produced 37 runs, the next 10 cost Combined 74 more. Latham was far from tardy in reaching his halfcentury from 55 balls; his last 44 runs were plundered from 23 deliveries. In all, Latham hit two sixes and 11 fours before skying an attempted straight drive. Next ball Haglund was bowled by Phil d’Auvergne for 47, including seven boundaries. His confidence and authority had’ increased as Latham exerted full control at the other end.

But their departure was to bring no relief for the now visibly tired Combined bowlers. Andrew Nuttall (36 from 21 balls) and Richard Petrie (38 off 22 balls) thrashed 69 runs in. a hectic 25 minutes. Combined’s most experienced men suffered most. Harvey King conceded 27 runs from his last two overs, d’Auvergne 40 from his final three.

A fiery start by Canterbury’s young opening bowlers, Stu Roberts and Andrew Hintz, kept their opponents shell-shocked. Roberts beat Peter Burton with sheer pace, Hintz had Grant Houston caught

from his first ball, and Roberts returned to also bowl d’Auvergne. Denis Mably and John Davies bravely survived for 23 overs, though runs came at a trickle. Brown conceded only 10 in his 12-over spell, and Nuttall was as miserly for most of his turn.

Just when it appeared he might advance to a substantial total, Davies was the victim of a long, accurate throw by Latham. Jeff Spicer was positive in compiling 39 in less than an hour and Greg de Joux boldly belted Nuttall for a six before becoming the fourth batsman to fall to the left-arm spinner. Roberts had displayed more than the usual measure of aggression in his early overs, and both he and Hintz had their figures damaged a little by snicks through the close cordon. Petrie was an able third seamer, also discovering that there was life in the pitch for those prepared to give extra effort. As batsman and wicketkeeper, John Sansom had a disappointing day. Injuries to David Boyle and Greg O’Reilly had required the Canterbury selectors to make two late changes. Blair Hartland

replaced Boyle and Petrie replaced O’Reilly. Scores.— CANTERBURY XI B. R. Hartland c Mably b Richardson 6 A. Nathu c Burton b King 24 P. E. McEwan cde Joux b I.‘ Stoddart 32 V. R. Brown std Ward b d’Auvergne 23 R. T. Latham c Stoddart b d’Auvergne... 94 R. W. Haglund b d’Au- „ vergne 47 J. J. Sansom c d’Auvergne b King 2 A. J. Nuttall c Davies b ’ King 36 R. G. Petrie not out ... . 38 A. J. Hintz not out 0 Extras (IM, w8) 9 Total (for 8 wkts) 311 Bowling.—H. A. King 12, 2, 57, 3; J. Richardson 8,1, 49, 1; L. Stoddart 11, 1, 43, 1; G. de Joux 12, 2, 50, 0; P. Burton 6,0, 44, 0; P. G. d’Auvergne 11,1, 67, 3. ASHBURTON-SOUTH CANTERBURY P. Burton b Roberts .... 0 G. Houston c -Sansom b Hintz 0 D. B. Mably c McEwan b Brown 14 P. G. d'Auvergne b Roberts 2 J. W. Davies run out.. . . 32 B. J. Ward c and b Nuttall. 1 J. Spicer c sub b Nuttall . 39 G. de Joux b Nuttall.... 25 L. Stoddart c Petrie b Nuttall 2 H. A. King not out 7 J. Richardson b Hintz ... 5 Extras (blO, lb2, wll).. . 23 Total 150 Bowling.—S. J. Roberts 9,0, 35, 2; A. J. Hintz 11.2, 1, 37, 2; R. G. Petrie 12, 1, 33, 0; V. R. Brown 12, 6, 10, 1; A. J. Nuttall 12, 7, 23, 4. Umpires: R. J. Ebert and M. G. Tindall.