St Albans advances cause in spite of modest batting

Press, 25 January 1988, Page 22

St Albans advances cause in spite of modest batting

Even on a day when -it produced its most modest batting performance of the season, St Albans still managed to advance towards a seemingly inevitable retention of the Canterbury firstgrade cricket championship.

It increased its lead in the Trust Bank Trophy competition to 23 points on Saturday by heading off High School Old Boys on the first innings of their seventh-round encounter at Hagley Oval. St Albans lost eight wickets overhauling Old Boys’ modest 110, the difficulties being caused by outstanding bowling from Stu Roberts. In contrast, the secondplaced Lancaster Park amassed the biggest team total of the summer, largely thanks to a typically rapid century from Tony Collins. But Park still requires six Burnside-West wickets to add to its competition points. Marist and Riccarton are well placed to lead Sydenham and Old Collegians, respectively, but Woolston Working Men’s Club appears certain to fall well short of East Christ-church-Shirley.

Scores.— Sydenham 178 met Marist 143/4. Lancaster Park 364/8 dec. met Burnside-West 135/4. Old Boys 110 and 10/0 met St Albans 113/8 dec. Old Collegians 179 met Riccarton 138/1. East-Shirley 263/6 dec. met Woolston W.M.C. 103/5. Roberts’s feat of claiming seven wickets was matched by Denis Aberhart for Riccarton. The next-best bowling came from Garry Hooper, whose five wickets for Marist extended his season’s haul past 50.

Half-centuries were recorded by Collins’s teammates, Reece Nimmo and Rod Latham, Bob Carter (Sydenham), Mark Hastings (Marist, thus completing a fine double), Russell Haglund (Burnside-West), Keith Gardner (Old Collegians), Craig Gibb and Gary Lund (both East-Shirley), and the Riccarton pair, Dean Lund and John Wilson, who next Saturday will resume a partnership already worth 125 runs.

COLLINS IN COMMAND There is no more enterprising batsman in Christchurch cricket than the Lancaster Park opener, Tony Collins, and on his day he seems impossible to bowl or set a field to.

He had one of his golden days at Burnside Park on Saturday when he plundered the Burnside-West-University attack to the tune of 106 runs off a mere 84 balls. Burnside had sent Lancaster Park in on the green pitch but the freshness was deceiving, for in 94 minutes, and in the twenty-second over, Collins had his century. He cut, drove and pulled powerfully, but amid some quite majestic shots were a few of his own making, particularly the top edge over the wicket-keeper's head for four.

There were 22 boundaries in Collins’s innings and he went from 68 to 100 with eight successive fours. Collins was dropped off the second ball but even without his score the Lancaster Park batting was substantial. Reece Nimmo batted confidently in a second-wicket stand of 149 with Collins, and Rod Latham also treated the bowling with disdain in striking 12 boundaries in his 73, scored off 57 balls. Steve Hawker toiled manfully in the heat to put some brakes on the scoring while Steve Bateman and Russell Haglund also bowled well at times but without really putting the batsmen under pressure.

Lancaster Park declared at afternoon tea and soon had Burnside in trouble with both the openers out for 19. But a productive partnership between Haglund and David Boyle added 84. Haglund was the senior partner in hitting his 55 off 52 balls. The Lancaster Park bowling was more controlled than that of Burnside, Trevor Lake’s medium pacers troubling the batsmen. But on a pitch that produced 499 runs in 420 minutes it was not really a day for bowlers. RUNS SCARCE

St Albans had to survive a fright before taking firstinnings points against High School Old Boys. Old Boys made only 110, but the St Albans wickets fell just as readily.

The pitch at Hagley No. 3 offered a little for the seamers, and had a little more pace than usual. But the batsmen seemed to be opeating on a minefield; in 410 minutes play, there were only 210 runs off the bat.

Three of Canterbury’s young fast or fast-medium bowlers distinguished themselves. Roger Ford and Henry Richards bowled with exemplary control for St Albans, and Stu Roberts returned to form with a vengeance. He bowled fast and w’ith accuracy, to take seven wickets. Old Boys were six for 29 in an hour, while Ford seemed to be on a fitness test. He took four for 15 off 13 overs — and then was switched to the other end.

Jonathan Eaton escaped from the firing squad. He played a worth-while innings, batting at No. 4 and being eighth out, for his 43. Ford and Richards bowled excellently, but Old Boys were given the dignity of reaching three figures because of Eaton, who, with Andy Nicol, added 31 for the seventh wicket, and by Dayle Hadlee, who played some typically immaculate shots.

At tea, St Albans was 36 for five. It was saved by Grant Lucas and the captain, Neil Francis, who added 71 for the sixth wicket. Francis exhibited a control which the others had lacked. He survived a savage attack by Roberts, and once Roberts was rested, the shackles were removed.

Lucas batted like a professional. He is good off his legs, and he also played some fine drives, and displayed good judgment in w’hat to play and what not to play. Roberts had 10 overs before tea, taking five wickets for 15 runs. He continued for another four overs after the interval, but had to be brought back cruelly early as the Old Boys score was approached. But he appeared to revel in the heavy workload; and he has not bowled much better. LEADING BY EXAMPLE Denis Aberhart, the Riccarton captain, produced his most spectacular bowling figures in five seasons with the club as his team enjoyed much the better of the encounter with Old Collegians at Elmwood Park.

Responding to Aberhart's example, the youthful batsmen, Dean Lund and John Wilson, reached their best first-grade scores in an unbroken second-wicket partnership worth 125 runs.

By stumps Riccarton was within 52 runs of a firstinnings lead. It had nine wickets in hand, with Tim Murdoch scheduled to replace David Hartshorn, who has Shell Trophy commitments.

Hartshorn could only sit with the pads on and admire the manner in which Lund and Wilson built upon the foundations laid by Aberhart with his medium-speed de-

liveries. There was a chance that Old Collegians would haul the match back onto an even keel when Stu Gambles was dismissed with the total at 13. Lindsay Forde was proving to be quite a handful for the batsmen, and there was a decidedly useful spell of leftarm spin from Graham Hansen.

Gradually, Lund and Wilson began to make headway and in the last hour were well on top of their task. Lund reached his half-cen-tury in 140 minutes from 137 balls, Wilson attaining that milestone in 144 minutes from 127 balls. They have so far been together for 149 minutes.

It was not hectic scoring, but moved along at a faster clip than Old Collegians earlier in the day. Only 95 runs were grafted from 42 overs in the morning, Keith Gardner managing to reach 30 in the 2>/ 2 hours. As Aberhart began to dominate proceedings. Old Collegians had cause to be grateful for Gardner’s stabilising influence. Gardner had eight fours in his 50, which took 193 minutes and 160 balls. He was eighth out, at 163. The tempo had been raised after lunch, first by Hansen and then Thomas. No-one collared Aberhart, but a considerable change came over Hartshorn’s figures. Before lunch he had conceded two scoring shots in nine overs; his first four overs after the resumption cost 31 runs.

CONDITIONS RELISHED After two early setbacks, East Christchurch-Shirley relished the conditions at Garrick Park when given first bat by the home team, Woolston. The run feast was started by Craig Gibb and Ray Jones, who enjoyed a partnership of 76 for the third wicket, after which Gary Lund, Stephen Daly and Greg Fletcher all chimed in with valuable contributions.

The innings of Gibb was especially eye-catching. He was watchful, but not afraid to hit the loose balls, and in facing 161 balls in total, 50 of his runs came from only 12.

In their hunt for a declaration, Fletcher and Daly enjoyed a partnership of 63 runs in quicker than even time.

The best Woolston bowlers were the seamers, Gary Baxter and Peter Steele, both of whom suffered from lapses in the field. Peter Kennedy bowled 21 fruitless overs, while the wicket during the early part of the day was of no help to the spinners. Behind the wickets, Grant Keenan had a mixed day, catching two and stumping one, but dropping at least two chances. Baxter never stopped trying in the outfield.

It must be a matter of concern to Woolston in that so far this season — in 17 innings — it has been unable to completely bowl out any of its opponents.

Woolston made a hesitant reply to East’s formidable

total, but with some batting still to come is not without hope of making a game of it. Gary Gardner and Grant Keenan enjoyed a partnership of 40 before Keenan was brilliantly run out by a sideon throw from Gibb.

East’s opening attack of Mark Robinson and Lund extracted plenty of life from a docile-looking wicket and there was a lot of playing and missing by Woolston’s early batsmen. Lund’s figures of two for 20 were well deserved. Tony Gray looked good flighting into the wind and Woolston was perhaps a little lucky not to have suffered more misfortune.

Mark Barrett scooped up three very good catches behind the stumps for East, but generally the fielding of both sides left something to be desired. DIFFICULT PITCH

Mark Hastings continued his fine run of batting form, his unbeaten 66 at Ham leaving Marist poised to take first-innings points from Sydenham. Hastings hit only four boundaries from 114 balls, but neat placements and sharp running brought him 16 twos, and kept the score ticking over. With Justin Boyle (33 from 69 balls) Hastings helped add 86 for the second wicket and he had John Larter as a pugnacious ally towards the end of the day.

Larter, with three fours from lusty hitting already under his belt, might look to complete the initial task quickly next week. Early in the day, the Sydenham batsmen fought desperately hard to accumulate runs on fl slow, spongy pitch. Their -’problems were compounded by the occasional ball rearing from a length. John Stuart, in a rare appearance at the bowling crease, bowled his first spell of nine overs for just 10 runs and had at least one chance dropped at first slip. Hastings’s opening spell of seven overs cost 10 runs, and he returned to take his four wickets later.

Garry Hooper was on after five overs, had a brief break when he changed ends after he had bowled 11 overs, and continued throughout the innings to finish with five wickets. His shift to the western end enabled him to exploit a nasty spot just short of a length. But Bob Carter survived several deliveries which leapt at the throat after being delivered at moderate pace, and moved to his half century in 144 minutes, from 122 balls. Kevin Congdon also batted tenaciously to reach 22 from 114 balls.

But after Darryn Murray was out with the score at 114, and Carter followed at 115, the Sydenham middle order collapsed. Richard Petrie, who can give the ball a good nudge in any circumstances, partly revived the innings with 31 from 61 balls. Petrie hit four fours and a six.