Hornby seeking a repeat result

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 38

Hornby seeking a repeat result

Hornby will be seeking a repeat performance of its winning effort of last summer when the Christchurch suburban senior A competition begins on October 3. As in previous seasons, entries for all grades are expected to total about 90 teams. Among them will be one notable change in the top section. Hoon Hay will not be featuring in the two-day competitions at all, the majority of its more prominent players having shown interest in switching to the Up-and-coming Halswell club. Two valuable players have been lost to the titleholder, Hornby. Its former captain and coach, Gary McManus, and Bruce Scott have transferred from Christchurch. Ross McGrail will be missing from the bowling attack. In spite of those defections, Hornby has a useful

reservior of talented players within the club and should not be markedly weakened. It will be captained by an all-rounder, Barry Adam, and once again has the services of, Robert Wilson, who has taken over McManus’s responsibilities as player-coach. Competing for bowling places with Adam and Wilson are Bruce Purdon, Paul Wallace, Bob Kerr, Alan Robertson and Greg Ayers. Wilson and Kenare also more than handy batsmen, and will be supported by Trevor Flutey, Barry Hart, Carl Stills and Ron Johnston. The runner-up last season, Upper Riccarton, has little change in its ranks, though the availability of Graeme Barrett is uncertain and a bowler, Nicky Dierck, might be a late starter because of an injury. However, with the bat-

ting ability and experience of the captain, Colin Fenwick, assisted by Alan Kerr, Dave Kennedy and Terry Caldwell, Upper Riccarton should do well. Other team members include Andrew Kennedy, Wayne Stapler and Wayne Clark. Heathcote, too, has retained much the same side, and boasts strength in both batting and bowling. Once again, Kit Chambers and Alf Smit will lead the bowling battery, though Warren Cresswell’s preparation has been hampered by injury. Steve Collier will provide the spin variations, and Mike Shrimpton will be hoping to progress on last year’s performances. Trevor Paterson will be absent from the first two rounds because of other commitments and will be missed in the batting order. However, Darryl Moody, Robert Hay, Neville Clark, the promising Murray Sands, and Dave Ward are more than capable of mustering creditable totals.

Kevin Collins, who was the highest individual runscorer last season, is to again captain MerivalePapanui. He is expected to perform effectively alongside two other seasoned cricketers in Jim Knowles and Ken Stagg. Of the bowlers, Ron Proven and Mike Hogan are to bear the brunt of the work-load and guide the improving Craig Courtise and Darren Leigh. New Brighton’s competitiveness should not be lessened too much by the losses of Lloyd O’Keefe

and Darryn Biscoe. There is compensation in the gaining of the former Merivale Papanui players, Tom Greenham and Andrew Keeling, Stu Dooley, from Hoon Hay, and Brian Moffatt, from Marlborough. Training has again been conducted by the captain and coach, Derek Burrell, whose run-scoring capabilities will be complemented by Phil Harris, Steve Messervy, Ross Cooper and Gary McLean. There are middle-order vacancies, with Brian Maxted and Mark Wilson keen to fill them, and the bowling side of the business is to be in the hands of Phil Harris, Greenham, Dooley and Frank Noster. Southern Districts has acquired two new bowlers, Gary Saunders and Mike Blair, to join Ron Aldous and a spinner, Mark White.

Alan Laurent and the evergreen Tim O’Loughlin, who will probably captain the team, will be heavily relied upon in the quest for runs. They will be backed up by Mark Ogier and the wicketkeeper, Bill Moore.

The bottom-placed Sumner has a squad of 14 players, five of them new to the club, in its bid for a more prominent position on the points table.

The recruits include Steve Booth, the new player-coach who brings with him long experience for East ChristchurchShirley as a mediumpaced bowler and hardhitting middle-order batsman. Booth has been joined by Chris Louis, another bowler of medium pace. Both Booth and Louis have earned representative selection at indoor cricket. The bowling will also feature Kerry Donald, a promising player of considerable pace from New Brighton, John Farrell, Dave Boreham and the Suburban senior player, Don Braid.

The regulars, Roger Campbell, Charlie Cross, Ray Steele and Owen Southen, provide the nucleus of the Sumner batting. Leading contenders for the eighth senior position were Richmond Working Men’s Club, which fin-

ished runner-up in the B grade last season, Harewood and Halswell. Two rule changes affect the two-day Suburban grades. First innings will be restricted to 50 overs instead of 55 with no limit on the number of overs individuals may deliver; the hours of play in Senior A and B have been brought forward by 30 minutes to between noon and 5.30 p.m.