R. TALBOT STRIKES FORM

NZ Truth, Issue 1304, 11 December 1930, Page 14

R. TALBOT STRIKES FORM

All-rounder Knocks Up Good Score For Old Collegians BILL MERRITT AS A BATSMAN - (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative.) , A brilliant innings of 83, not out, by Ron. Talbot was the batting tit-bit of- Canterbury cricket last Saturday. Talbot is a splendid, finished.batsman, but lie fails so often that, m spite of his all-round ability as a bowler and fieldsman, he has not yet attained New Zealand" rep." honors.

HIS trouble is that he tries fancy shots before he" has got his eye m, and he pays the penalty. Playing for Old Collegians last Saturday, -he! went m when his side was up against it, and, for once, he opened careful'iy. . ■.'•'. ■ ' •■'.:'■. Later, when set, he opened out m good style, hitting three 'sixes with perfect timing- and giving . the nymerous spectators a batting treat. ,7 .He. looked certain for his century, but he could get no one to stay with him; . '-.'. " The only other

Old Collegian to get going was the reliable Steve Lester, -who used hl3 feet - with good judgment m dealing with . Merritt't slows. •■■". '■" ■ " .'■ ' As usual, Bill vMerritt 'was the outstanding O I'd .Boys bowler. -, He succeeded m getting 6 wickets for 86, . :. and: then fol.^lO'vved this ,-up . with a fine; forceful arid finished batting knock of 78. Although Merritt

is Canterbury's star . slow bowler, he rapidly is. becoming one of the leading batsmen. His club performances this season are: — Bowling, 36 wickets for ,533 runs, average .14.8-, batting, 326 runs for .7 completed innings,, average. 46.7. He has taken , the most wickets, and is fifth m the batting r aggregate. He looks set for England, but his fielding wants' sharpening up. .. ' . . ; • . . 'Two years . ago, a, ( ;i7-;years-.old boy, Frank Bellamy, appeared m the Sydenham senior team,, and looked like' blossoming into the slow, left-hand bowler, which Canterbury. urgently needs;' „ But Frank's 'progress ; has been sldw . and disappointing; ; Xlast . Saturday, bowling against a strong- Riccarton batting team, he suddenly fulfilled his earlier promise. . , . . He clean-bowled Jacobs, Jack Powell, Gordon' Haihes, Charlie Bix and the promising, colt, Dunnett, and finished '' up with 7 wickets for 59. He bowled

like a champion and had all the batsmen m trouble. Top scorers for Riccarton were those consistent opening batsmen, Jacobs and Stringer, who made 38 and 33 respectively with the only bright batting of the innings. • For once, A. W. Roberts did not get going -sveJl and had to be content -with 14 runs. Playing for Lancaster Park, lan Cromb added to his batting failures this season by scoring 2 runs, during which he gave 2 chances. His batting has gone back this season, and his chances of remaining m the Canterbury team are doubtful, though, m favorable conditions, he . can bow] well. After his batting failure, he , scuttled Bast Christchurch -with his best bowling performance this season. Bowling into the .wind, the batsmen. were mis-timing him, and he finished up with 6 t wickets for 32 runs. Without its star batsman, J. L. Kerr, ■ who was confined to bed with sunburnpoisqning, and who may not be available for a couple, of weeks, West Christchurch, the leading senior team, soon found itself ill a, parlous position with 6 wickets down for "43 runs. Unexpectedly, the taiienders .made a fighting finish. . ' R. J..Champness made a hard punched 33, with a couple of sixes to help matters, C. S. Gibbs made 18, and the last .man, R. J. S. Bean, with tripey looking batting, virtually collected 33, and West finished up with the respectable, though modest, total*of 165. .George Condcliffe and Curly Page soon got going for St. Albans. and with force, ful, though Jucky, batting, they were still m when- stumps were drawn with scores of 79 and" 36 respectively. In addition to bowling m an unconvincing and unsuccessful manner, G. S. Gibbs was very slack m the field, and dropped a couple of easy catches. Gibbs Is : very lucky to retain his position m the team, particularly as West Christchurch has a better bowler m Jock Hill, who' is knocking hard for recognition. With Jack Kerr m bed, his namesake, .F. ; Kerr,' though .no 'relation, stepped into the breach to keep the name favorable before the public. When he went m to bat, Lancaster Park's score was 3 wickets for 2 runs,« but Kerr immediately punished the bowling. In a short time, he hit up 59, including 9 t fours and 2 sixes_. This was more than half the runs scored by his team.

team and that trip Home m a fey months. If Anthony, of Parnell, is selected, it will be his twenty-fifth year of rep. cricket. Though well into the veteran stage, he is still extremely agile, and very reliable m the field. Goodsir, the Parnell fast bowler, hat put m some good work this season, ant if he manages to keep up form, he will probably give the selectors some serious thought. McCoy, another. Parnellite, dishes ur cricket that is .always a pleasure tc ■watch. If he can only raise form his prospects are excellent. H G. Vivian is a moral 'for the rep. team and the English trip, barring accidents, is as good as his. His batting to date has been unvaryingly good, his ■worst score being thirty-four against Eden when he was feeling a bit off color. He is one of the most promising oomlng batsmen m the. Dominion. ■ D. Webb, of

North \ Shore, was one of the unexpected •. names to appear on the selector's list. He is a brilliant field and quite a fail slow bowler. H{ is a cross-hitting bat — a bad fault ol his — but very quicV on his feet. His prospects of inclusion, though or the cards, ar< slender. D. Cleverley, o Ponsonby, will ex cite a good deal o interest. He is i

fast bowler with stacks of stayini power, and good, fast bowlers who .di not tire will be invaluable to the team C G. Finlayson is another of the Pon sonby wicket-takers on the list. His rer experience has been somewhat curtailei by the fact that m the past he has beei unable to get away. The rep. team should be: — G. L. Wei (Eden)f H. G. Vivian (Parnell), J. E Mills (Eden), D. Cleverley (Ponsonby) \Ucott (Skipper)- (Graf ton); A. M Matheson (Varsity). H. D ; Gillespl* (Eden), P. Goodsir (Parnell), A. J Postles (Eden), C. G. ■ Finlayson (Pon sonby), ; H. Roy (Eden), A. W. McCpj (Parnell).