CRICKET Too Much Purposeless Bowling

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 February 1947, Page 9

CRICKET Too Much Purposeless Bowling

.How many West Coast bowlers study the good shots and the weaknesses of the batsmen who oppose them? Not too many judging by the amount of purposeless bowling that is done every week in club matches. Too many bowlers just send the ball up trying to keep a good length and spinning , and swinging the ball a» often and as far as possible. This is not peculiar, to West Coast cricket—far from it. It was noted in last: season’s qounty cricket in England, with, the conclusion that the game in this'department had slipped, and comparisons were made between present-day English bowlers and Wilfrid Rhodes and J. C. White, two among many “greats.” Bowlers, after learning to bowl a length, to spin the ball and to swing it, must also learn to exploit these 'attributes to the detriment of particular batsmen. This does not always mean concentrating on a batsman’s weak point—often he can be induced to try to play his best shot before he has obtained a proper sight of the ball. To be successful to any degree the bowler must have control of length, for which the only recipes are practice and more practice, but he must also use his wits to defeat the batsman. There must be some plan of attack for each batsman for the bowler to get the best results

Garforth Again. Following up his excellent performance against Marist B, S. Garforth (Marist A) again returned remarkable bowling figures on Sunday when in 15 overs, 10 of them maidens, he took five wickets for 12 runs against Cobden, hitherto regarded as one of the strongest batting sides in the competition. Garforth kept a steady length and he turned, swung and flighted the ball well, but, on the slow track, he did not come off as quickly as usual. He again failed to get going with the bat, but he is fulfilling the promise he showed a couple of seasons ago of developing into a splendid bowler. He is getting a little more pace now and this is an improvement. Fine Left-hander.

W. H. Vincent, who captained the West Coast touring team in its Christmas and New Year matches on the east coast, gave a taste of his real quality on Sunday when he scored 69 for United A against United B. He is a fine, free batsman —none more attractive when he gets started —with plenty of shots and the confidence to go for them. Vincent learnt his cricket in Canterbury, where he made a name for himself as a footballer before coming to the West Coast. In the field he is an example to most with the neatness of his handling and his good returns. Confidence an Asset. H. Westwood is having a good season and again on Sunday he-was one of the mainstays of United A with a quick 35. He concentrates to a great extent on drives and on attacking the bowlers and his confidence is a big asset, even if it sometimes brings about his downfall. Some of the Cobden batsmen on Sunday would profit by adopting Westwood’s attitude to the bowling. One of the main reasons for their failure on Sunday was their lack of enterprise. Somewhat Disappointing. A. Knapp, after the fine impression he made when playing for the Canterbury Brabin Cup team during the Christmas and New Year matches, has been something of a disappointment with the bat since he returned to club cricket—disappointing in that he has not made more runs more regularly. He made 30 in fine style against Blackball about 10 days ago, but missed again on Sunday. Theie is no doubt about his ability but overeagerness and keenness to play fancy shots off good-length bowling too often bring about his dismissal He has solid defence and plenty of orthodox shots which are run-getters, but he will have to settle down a lot

before he can be regarded, as a reliable batsman. His bowling on Sunday against Marist A was better than his average of one for 30 suggests. At his first turn at the crease he bowled splendidly, and was unlucky not to get another wicket or two. Fulfilled Promise.

Runanga on Sunday fulfilled the promise it has been showing by scoring an out-right win against one of the then leading teams Marist C. Best feature of Runanga’s showing was the fine bowling of Kennedy and Baddeley. The former took, in all, eight wickets for 40 and Baddeley collected six victims. They were well supported on this occasion by Whitehead and Harrison. Marist C’s

batting display, for a leading team, was poor. In the first knock Donaldson and • Rodden, with 42 and 13 respectively, made 55 of the 77 runs the team scored —not a very high tribute to the batsmen, in spite of the accurate bowling. In the second they were all out for 39 including six extras, none making double figures. It was a notable victory for Runanga and took that team into second place only two points behind the two leaders. A pleasing feature of the match was the return to form of R. Donaldson. He should now be on the way to some big scores. Lindley’s Comeback. L., C. Lindley, of United A. has made an impressive comeback to the game, and is building up a fine bag of wickets with a useful tally each week. Last week he added five at a cost of 28 runs at the expense of United B. He bowls an accurate length and turns and swings the ball deceptively and is another of the successful slow left-handers the West Coast appears to have specialised in this season. Lindley has that imperturbable temperament which is essential to successful slow bowling —if he is hit he looks for more.

Slow Scoring. The Marist B team put up what must be nearly a record for slow scoring this season when at Brunner on Sunday they took over two hours to score their 93 runs. After an hour and three quarters play they had scored 64 for one wicket. Again it was a case of one or two making the runs. Barlow made 50 and Mathews

15, and the ■ other nine scored 24 between them. The principal reasons for the slow scoring were the soft wicket and the slow outfield after the rain. The wicket improved under the influence of the hot sun and the bowlers received more assistance later in the day. Invitation to Women.

After the excellent showing of the West Coast women’s representative team at Christchurch on Saturday, an invitation was issued to Greymouth women’s teams to take part in a junior tournament to be held at Christchurch at. Easter, and there is a possibility that Greymouth players will accept the invitation. It is also probable that two teams of women ' cricketers from Canterbury will visit the West Coast for matches at Greyraouth on March 1. Matches Arranged For Wteek-end The West Coast Cricket Association has arranged the following fixtures for the week-end: — Senior (Sunday).—Blackball v. United A, at Blackball; United B v. I Runanga, at Cobden; Marist C y. IMarist A, at Recreation Ground; 'Brunner v. Cobden, at Brunner: Marist B v. Kaimoto, at Recreation Ground. . • Junior (Saturday).—Cobden ■ 'Cobden B, at Cobden; Technical High v. Marist Old Boys, at Technical School ground; United v. Brunner, at Brunner; Runanga v. Marist H.S., at Recreation Ground. Women (Saturday).—Cobden v. United A, at Recreation Ground.