Promising bowler signed

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 52

Promising bowler signed

East Christchurch-Shir-ley, without a strike bowler in its first grade cricket ranks since the departure of the Canterbury opening bowler, Craig Thiele, at the end of the 1984-85 season, is hopeful of overcoming that shortcoming this season. The club has signed a promising right-arm medium-fast bowler, Mark Robinson, from Northamptonshire. Robinson, aged 20, played for Young England against Sri Lanka last year. As a seam bowler, Robinson was rated behind only the country’s test cricketers, David Capel and Winston Davis, at the start of the county championship. However, a broken wrist cut short his season. Before that untimely injury he had played in seven first class matches and had taken 14 wickets. As well, he represented Northants in six one-day fixtures. Robinson will miss the opening round of the first grade two-day competition, but he will be available for the rest of the season. East-Shirley will look forward to the second round more so than the first. It has lost Garry Hooper, the competition’s leading wicket-taker last season, to Marist, and its leading batsman, Gary Lund, will also miss the first round because of ongoing soccer commitments with the champion national league team, Christchurch.