St Albans chases more silverware

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 39

St Albans chases more silverware

St Albans, which collected all three trophies in 1886-87, Riccarton, Sydenham and Lancaster Park are again the contenders for the Canterbury senior women’s cricket title. The most significant defection from St Albans is Vicki Burtt, who is not playing this season. Burtt’s international experience and attacking top-order batting will be sorely missed. However, there is compensation in the availability for the first part of the season of another international batsman, Lois Simpson, from North Shore, who is training in Christchurch with the New Zealand hockey squad. St Albans will be led

by the astute Ann McKenna, who is within range of a 10,080 runs milestone in club cricket Also expected to contribute plenty of runs are Kirsty Bond, Brigit Legg, Sarah Illingworth and Catherine Campbell. The attack will be spearheaded by Tracy McNamara and Legg, two of Canterbury’s sharpest bowlers. The very accurate mediumpaced Bond can be relied on to tie down one end, while Campbell’s offspinners have often been match-winners. The successful Illingworth will be back behind the stumps. One of the club’s most promising players, Anita Bremner, is out through ill health. Other squad

members are Mandy Ormandy, Kerry Nalder, Susan Inwood and Kerrin Maguire. Riccarton, second last

season, will again be captained by Lesley Murdoch. She, Debbie Ford and Karen Gunn are prolific run-scorers, with useful contributions expected from Carol Cadigan, Diane Robertson, Vicki Rondell and a newcomer from Wellington, Gail Heather. The team will be without Jayne Beattie because of work commitments, Cadigan having assumed the wicket-keeping duties. Gunn, who last season took 57 wickets, and Debbie Costello are bowlers to be respected. Delwyn Brownlee, a very promising young off-spinner, has transferred from St Albans and provides variation. Sydenham has been strengthened by the return of Mary Marshall,

but is still without its strike bowler, Sue Brown. Marshall will bat high in the order, along with Toni Watts and the captain, Trudy Anderson, who was the side’s most successful batsman a summer ago with 461 runs. In the middle positions will be Vivienne Browne, Kay Wickes, Andrea Devine and Maia Lewis, who have all proved their worth in the past. For bowling, Sydenham relies heavily on medium-pace, from Katherine Ryan, Jenny Turner, Wickes, Anderson and Devine. It is expected Wendy Giles will keep wickets. Lancaster Park’s strength is in its batting — Jenny Olsen, Nicki Turner and Penny Kin-

sella all have international experience. After them, Andrea Walker, Rebecca Millichip, Rowan Davis and Jan Mullaney are capable of good scores. Millichip is the mainstay of the bowling, backed up by Barbara Carr, Paula Woolhouse and Sharon Weaver, the latter having transferred from Sydenham. The wicket-keeper is again Ros Rickerby. One-day games will be played in the early rounds in preperation for the 80-overs inter-provin-cial tournament In January the New Zealand side meets Australia in limited-over series, the second of three games having been allocated to Christchurch on January 23.