Timaru were the only team to gain an outright victory in the latest round of the Tweedy Cup moving them ahead of Temuka and Geraldine to the top of the table as teams return to one day matches until after Christmas.Although Timaru looked in trouble at the start of the day 7 wickets down and still 50 runs in arrears, Avon Proctor and Hayden Leonard had other ideas as they added 116 runs for the 8th wicket. Although Leonard fell one short of another half century it was Proctor’s day as he scored his highest senior score of 81 in only his second senior innings in 8 years.

Tim Mackle with 30 not out and Chris Leonard ensured the tail dragged and eventually Timaru were all out for 308 doubling their score from the start of the day.

Temuka’s second innings progressed steadily but unfortunately wickets also fell steadily as they tried to bat the day out and deny Timaru outright points and keep themselves near the top of the leader board. Although seven batsmen managed to get into double figures, only Hayden Broker with 45 and Robbie Histen 32 not out really went on, while Kris Howes with 5-30 and Zane Sanders with 4-53 were well rewarded for their bowling efforts (and aided by some great slip catching by wily old campaigner Chris Leonard, whom my spy tells me hasn’t been as reliable this season) as Temuka’s second innings finished with their total at 190.

Set a target of 84 to win from only 13 overs Timaru re-arranged the batting order with Zane Sanders joining Hayden Butler (8) in an opener’s role. It paid off as Sanders scored a quick 25 and then Howes added 23 before Kane Whiteley unbeaten on 22 saw Timaru home with 2 balls to spare to claim outright points.

The Star versus Waimate match also went down to the wire after Star declared their second innings closed and left Waimate the mammoth task of scoring 284 runs to win at a run rate of 5.68 per over or more importantly to try and bat 50 overs to save an honourable draw.

Waimate were soon in trouble as wickets fell in pairs and after being 29-3 then lost 3 more wickets in the seventies to be 77-7 before Nathan Sheppard and Jason SewHoy began a long fightback as they tried to see out the overs. The loss of Sheppard changed little as Matt SewHoy (14 not out) joined his older brother and between them saw out the last hour without losing another wicket to deny Star an outright victory. Along the way Jason with 28 not out reached his highest senior score, but also batted for more than 20 overs to defy the bowlers.

For Star Mark Evans was again on song picking up 4-22 from 11 overs, but after being reintroduced alongside Craig Hinton in an effort to finish Waimate off. Hinto (2-25) had earlier picked up an unusual hat trick by taking a wicket with his first delivery after previously finishing the Waimate 1st innings with 2 wickets in two balls.

Despite numerous appeals for lbw (which are always hard to get with player/umpires) Star couldn’t break the ninth wicket partnership and the match ended with Waimate on a precarious 134-8 and Star only getting first innings points.

At Rockdale Rd Celtic were prepared for a day in the field as they tried for an outright result after having declared on 349-7 on the first day, and although they eventually dismissed Geraldine for 214 allowing them to enforce the follow on, it took a long time (82 overs) thus eating well into the days allowance.

Young English professional Matt Barnes batted well for 42 while fellow Englishmen Chris Esh chimed in with 32 and Ben Millar showed his all round class with 41 before being run out. Asked to bat a second time the match looked to be heading for a draw as Geraldine again had built a sound platform at 60-1 with Millar 25 not out and Barnes 35 not out at the crease and looking comfortable with 16 overs left in the day’s play.

Score Boards

Under 17 Team to play in Aoraki Trust Regional Tournament to be held in Timaru on 8-12 December 2008.

B. Brown, S.Carlaw (Vice Captain), N.Galwey, J.Harper, B.Leonard, J.Naylor, S.Porter, L.Taylor, M.Walker, T.Walsh, S.Ward(Captain), W Wright

Practice Tuesday night (25/11/08) at GB centre at 8pm. Friendly game in Oamaru Sunday.

Under 15 Boys team to play in Regional Tournament in Westport 15-18 December.
Josh Dick(Captain), Glen Drake, Ben Simpson, Ben Watson, Ben Fraser, Harry Miller, Robbie Mulvena, Levi Mc Coy, Danial Dorgan, Nathan McNicol, Mathew Brown, Nick Haack

U 17/ Secondary School Girls Tournament Rangiora 2008
Megan Linton, Courtney Buckman, Vicki McMaster, Christina O Connor, Kirsty Merritt, Chloe Austin, Mellissa O’Brien, Dana Mulcahy, Theresa Tomkinson, Rosie Nicholas
2 from Christchurch.
Practice Graeme Blanchard Centre Thursday 27 November7-30-9-00
And Thursday 4 December 6-30 to 8-00.

Under 15 Girls team to play in the Canterbury Regional Tournament in Ashburton 19-21 January.
Hannah Linton, Courtney Buckman, Dana Mulcahy, Keryn Ward, Courtney Hamel, Chloe Austin, Anna O”Toole, Kirsty Merritt, Kathryn May, Ella Hart, Rachael Bellow, Emily Howes

Practice Thursday 27 November 6-7-30 pm and 4 December 5-6-30pm.
At Graeme Blanchard Centre.

 South Canterbury Primary Team to Play in South Island Tournament at Rangiora January 5-9 2009.

Michael Hogan (Captain), James Macfarlane(Vicw Captain), Patrick Simpson, Jack Woodley, Lachlan Robertson, Michael Lees, Connor Scott, Bradley Surridge, Liam Cosgrove, Nick O’Brien, Brett Walker, Latham Gibb

Coach /Managers John Threlkeld and Ants de Joux

Ben Millar
Craig Davies
James Laming
Dan Laming
Liam Crowley
Matt Mealings
Luke Taylor
Julian Danby
Todd Elliotte
Kevin Teahen
Craig Hinton

Practice Graeme Blanchard Centre Wednesday 26 November at 6pm.

CENTURIES to Rowen Milburn, Alex McKenzie and Harry Millar set up representative cricket wins for the South Canterbury women’s, under-19 boys and under-15 boys teams respectively last Sunday.

The women, playing the third round of the Aotea Cup at Aorangi, recorded their second win after batting first and scored 211-3 from 40 overs against Dunedin.

Milburn’s 116 was the stand-out performance as she and Bridget McMaster (29) added 165 for the first wicket. Courtney Buckman scored 12 while Kim Cotton and Megan Linton both finished 18 not out.

In reply Dunedin started well, scoring 93 runs before the fall of the first wicket, but after the run out of their top batsman for 66 it was a steady procession back to the tent for the Dunedin batsmen with Libby Stuck taking 2-35. Milburn capped off a great day with 2-20 while Grace Kerridge and Megan Linton picked up a wicket each.

A 170-run innings, including 17 fours and three sixes by McKenzie in the under-19 match against North Otago was the outstanding contribution to that match. McKenzie was the dominant batter in the first of three partnerships which were all in excess of 90 runs. He was also well supported by Tom Bouch (31), Liam Crowley (30) and Hayden Matthews (33) as South Canterbury set an imposing total of 337-6 from their 50 overs.

North Otago set about the chase well adding 94 before the fall of a wicket, but after the loss of their top three (B Cant 61, J Shields 47, S Conlon 41) and the introduction of Phil Lill (3-44), Mckenzie with 2-29 and Bouch 2-9, the North Otago innings faltered as they lost their last six wickets for the addition of only 55 runs and were eventually all out for 236 in the last over.

South Canterbury under-15 played Mid Canterbury and after winning the toss batted first.

The first wicket fell early before a superb unbeaten 122 from Millar and 80 from Josh Dick added more than 170 runs for the second wicket allowing South Canterbury to reach 265-4 from their allotted overs.

Mid Canterbury were always behind the required run rate in the chase, especially against the steady bowling of all the bowlers used, with Josh Rooney with four overs, two maidens, eight runs and two wickets leading the way.

Robbie Mulvena had a good spell also, taking 1-25 off his 10 overs.

Most of the other bowlers also shared the spoils with a wicket each.

Wicketkeeper Matt Brown showed his class by taking two good catches standing up to the stumps and eventually South Canterbury won with Mid Canterbury still more than 70 runs short – finishing at 192-7.

These successful South Canterbury teams will now be hoping to continue this form on into their various tournaments over the next month.

SOUTH CANTERBURY hosted Hanan Districts neighbours North Otago at the weekend in the first cricket match to be played between the provinces in more than 10 seasons, even though North Otago are one of South Canterbury’s closest neighbours.

Since the Hawke Cup was re-formatted some years back, the two associations generally only have contact in age-group cricket.

This match, played at Aorangi Oval, provided an ideal chance to cement more pre-Hawke Cup season matches on a regular basis for both teams, especially now that Christchurch Suburban may no longer have a competition next season as they move back fully under the Canterbury umbrella.

North Otago won the toss and then set the game up with a solid first wicket partnership of 120 from 27 overs between James Cutt (45) and Duncan Drew who batted superbly, especially when driving down the ground or through the covers on his way to the game high score of 72 before he was bowled by Craig Davies.

SC then got back into the game as captain Todd Elliotte decided to take the pace off the ball, introducing more spin with Ben Millar cleaning up the middle order with 4-39 while Davies and Elliotte both grabbed two wickets each.

The medium pacers and quicks toiled away mostly for no reward as Elliotte used nine different bowlers, but a late flurry by Glen Paterson (47) helped North Otago post a very defendable 220-9 from 50 overs.

Former New Zealand opening bowler David Sewell has lost little pace and may have improved his accuracy as he kept the South Canterbury scoring to a minimum, but was unrewarded despite conceding only 19 runs from his 10 overs.

Fellow left-armer Paul O’Dell with 2-25 kept the pressure on, but once again it was the spin of Jordan Horrell that had the most success as he took 3-47.

South Canterbury were always behind as they regularly lost wickets and couldn’t build partnerships.

Despite having to bat with a runner after injuring his foot, James Laming was the best of the SC batsmen with 39, but every time things were on the improve a wicket fell.

Luke Taylor was out just as he was getting on top of the bowlers for 24, and by the time Jordan Morrow (22) and Kevin Teahen (31), batting nine and 10 respectively, got together, their 49-run partnership for the ninth wicket was too little too late and eventually South Canterbury were dismissed for 177, still 44 runs shy of victory.

There is a break next weekend before the Hawke Cup gets under way the following weekend, and South Canterbury will be looking for a lot more consistency.

Score Sheet

SLOW over rates by some teams on a hot day and without the benefit of official umpires to push them along meant that two games didn’t finish until nearly 7.30pm as teams played on to meet the new requirements of overs to be bowled in a day.

The extension from 90 to 100 overs to be bowled in a day was brought in to enhance the chances of outright results in the Tweedy Cup but not every day will have as good light as this weekend to play in and the purpose of the change may well be negated on days where the weather is not as conducive unless teams pick up the pace.

It was noticeable too that although bowlers generally got through their overs in the three minutes allocated, a lot of time was wasted in the changeover and field placing and the captains will need to be more aware of this.

However, Star did make the most of the long day in their match against Waimate establishing an 80-run lead by stumps after moving to 18 without loss in their second innings.

The match see-sawed in terms of dominance after Star batted first and while Tom Bouch (27) and Nathan Tubb (34) continued their good form, the team lost wickets in pairs at crucial times. Waimate were seemingly on top with Star 122-9 before player of the day No 11 Craig Hinton chimed in with 25 not out to see Star through to 159.

In reply Waimate were level pegging with Star’s efforts when captain Nathan Sew Hoy scored a typically attacking 38, but after being 86-3 they collapsed to be all out for 94.

Mark Evans set it up for Star with 4-19 before Hinton returned for a devastating second spell to take 5-13 from his 11 overs.

Celtic will also be pushing for outright victory in their match after declaring their first innings closed at 349-7 but will need to dismiss Geraldine (currently 60-1) twice on a good batting strip. Opener Craig Davies struck a sound 70 while James Laming hit a solid 58 and Dan Laming continued his rich vein of form with his third consecutive fifty before being caught for a 54 that included 11 boundaries.

All the middle order reached double figures for Celtic.

In the match between competition leaders Temuka and Timaru quick runs or quick wickets will be the order of the day if either team is to gain the edge and push on for an outright result.

Winning the toss and batting first, Willie Stone (26) and Julian Danby (35) kept home team Temuka’s score moving along before Dillon Lees with an unbeaten 57 was joined by new player Justin Kneehoff (26) and they added 52 for the last wicket to see Temuka through to 201.

Kane Whiteley took 4-34 with his leg-spin while Kris Howes picked up 3-40.

In reply Timaru are 151-7 after opener Gerald Piddock (39) and all-rounders Howes (23) and Jordy Morrow (31) kept Timaru in the match.

Full scoresheets will be available after Day 2.

The South Canterbury Senior Cricket side travelled to Ashburton on Sunday for the Annual Ron Biggar Trophy exchange 50 over match. After going missing, the trophy was reinstated 3 seasons ago, and like the Ranfurly Shield, SC does not plan to let it go easily.

Mid Canterbury won the toss and batted on what turned out to be a low and slow pitch. Opening batsmen Lyall Jemmett spent over 3 hours at the crease as he compiled a solid 52 but apart from a 50 run partnership with Robert Madden (29) for the second wicket none of the Mid Canterbury batsmen were able to help him much and he was eventually the ninth wicket to fall and Mid Cant were all out for 142 in the 49^th over.

All six South Canterbury bowlers returned good figures as partnerships were broken regularly especially after the introduction of Dan Laming (2-24 off 10) and Craig Davies’ off-spinners (4-19 off 8). The fielding also improved from the previous outing with 8 batsmen dismissed to catches.  

In reply, South Canterbury got away to a solid start with both Craig Davies (12) and Ben Millar (19) hitting the ball into the gaps, rotating the strike and keeping the score moving along with singles and the odd two. With the score on 23, Davies edged one to slip and soon after Miller departed leaving South Canterbury 2-40.

Englishman, Mathew Barnes (32) then joined the in form Dan Laming (55) who scored his second fifty of the weekend and together they along with Grant Brookland (12no) took the game away from Mid Canterbury. South Canterbury passed the total needed for victory for the loss of only 4 wickets in the 45^th over.

The next representative match is against North Otago at Aorangi Oval this Sunday and then South Canterbury play their first game in the Hawke Cup campaign against West Coast in Greymouth on 29^th/30^th November.

Scoreboard:

Mid Canterbury Innings

South Canterbury Innings

Stephen Pagan returned to a Geraldine team deep trouble at 55-7 overnight and batting at number 10 compiled a fine 77 not out as Geraldine gained a first innings lead and eventually outright victory over Star, while a moving tribute by the Timaru and Celtic players for former Timaru player Rowdy McLachlan who lost his life in a tragic accident last week set up an intriguing match played in his honour that he would have been proud to be part of.

In the third senior match in the first round of the Tweedy Cup despite the efforts of Matt Devlin with a half century there was no fairytale finish for Waimate who were beaten outright by Temuka with Kevin Teahen picking up his first 10 wicket bag of his career.

Celtic resumed the chase for first innings points on 121-4 but soon found that Hitesh Angrish’s off-spin was proving difficult to score from as he picked up 4-26. A 40 run partnership between Matt Mealings and Luke Taylor (39) looked likely but the loss of quick wickets left Celtic still needing 40 runs with the last pair at the crease. Ants DeJoux showing form that hasn’t been seen for some seasons struck the ball powerfully as he tried to get Celtic over the line for the 6 points on offer, but was left not out 33 when the No 11 was bowled with Celtic 4 runs short.

Batting a second time Timaru regularly lost wickets and looked like undoing all their good work, but Hayden Butler with 40 and a good partnership between of 73 between Zane Sanders (48) and Kane Whiteley (28) took up time as well as steadying the innings.

Eventually Timaru were all out for 157 with the standout performance for Celtic coming from their captain Dan Laming with 7-52 well supported by Sam Carlaw with the other 3 wickets to fall giving him his first senior 10 wicket bag for a match.

Needing 162 runs from only 14 overs to win outright Celtic entered into the spirit of the match and set about the task, but as wickets fell all round him Dan Laming was again left to shoulder most of the burden, and with the other batsmen unable to feed him the strike his task grew out of reach as the run rate required spiralled upward and Celtic finished 89-6 with Laming unbeaten on 53 to give him a fine double for the day, while for Timaru, Angrish picked up 4 more wickets to give him 8 for the day. This meant that Timaru take the honours and a first innings win from the match.

Geraldine’s trump card Pagan could not have changed the match outcome without the solid support of Tom McKnight at the other end as the pair put on 89 for the 9th wicket and saw them pass the Star first innings score of 129.

Batting a second time Star could only manage 160 runs from 49 overs as Hamish Drennan and young English spinner Chris Esh picked up 4 wickets each. Only Hamish Dickson (31) and Mark Evans (26 no) of the Star batsmen went on after making a start.

This left Geraldine the unlikely task of scoring 141 runs from 21 overs against a medium pace attack including 3 current or former rep players.

Someone forgot to tell Geraldine and Pagan and Ben Millar set about the task steadily if not spectacularly putting on 43 for the first wicket. Geraldine all ran well between the wickets and as the pressure went onto the fielders the target became more and more realistic. A third wicket partnership of 63 between Millar until he was out for 59 and Guy Metcalf who finished 37 not out got Geraldine to within 16 runs of their target and then although they lost another wicket managed to gain an outright victory with all the time in the world to spare (2 balls actually) and proving that anything can happen in a game of cricket.

Waimate would have felt better about their first innings effort after converting 45-8 overnight into 102, but would have wanted a far superior second innings after Temuka asked them to follow on. Early breakthroughs by Kevin Teahen and Dillon Lees soon put paid to that idea as they fell to 10 for 4 before the middle order put up some resistance with Alan Reid, Matt and Sam Devlin and Jason SewHoy all spending time in the middle.

However Temuka weren’t going to be denied as Teahen picked up 4-22 to give him 10-46 off 38 overs for the match and lead his team to outright victory by an innings and 21 runs.

Click here to see scoreboards

The Timaru Cricket Club and South Canterbury cricket will not be the same after the tragic death of Andrew ‘Rowdy’ McLachlan in a car accident.

Funeral arrangements are yet to be made but the article as printed in the Timaru Herald can be read below.

Timaru Herald 7-Nov-2008
POLICE have confirmed that the Timaru man who died after his car hit a bridge between Albury and Fairlie was Andrew Rex McLachlan, 25.

Mr McLachlan, (or Rowdy to his friends) died when the vehicle he was driving hit a bridge on State Highway 8 near the intersection with Cricklewood Road. About 12.55am a fire was reported and emergency services found a car had struck the side of the bridge and was engulfed in flames.

Mr McLachlan’s family and friends are still coming to terms with the loss of a witty young man.

Good friend and Timaru Cricket Club team-mate Tim Mackle said his friend had obtained the nickname Rowdy because of his quiet nature.

“He was a man of few words but never said a bad thing about anyone.

“It was always Friday and Saturday nights around at the “Blue on Wilson” (Mackle’s house) watching sport until Rowdy got the remote and then it was Trackside,” he said.

Mr Mackle played representative cricket with Mr McLachlan from primary age. The pair, along with Jeremy Liddy, were selected for the Canterbury under-15 cricket team in 1998.

“He played rugby for Old Boys as well but liked league more,” Mr Mackle added.

The two would take turns driving to cricket on Saturdays and often shared sweepstakes on races or rugby matches.

A spokesman from South Canterbury Cricket said Mr McLachlan had made himself available for all upcoming representative cricket games this season.

He was a talented cricketer with strong support from family and the public.

“And he was popular with his fellow team-mates,” they said.

Some more of Rowdy’s cricketing deeds can be read about here when he helped Timaru to victory in the Tweedy Cup last season

The South Canterbury Women’s Cricket team played Southland in the first round of the Aotea Cup cricket competition last Sunday at Aorangi Artificial.

Winning the toss Southland elected to bat in hot conditions. Kane and Osborne got the visiting side away to a good start and the first wicket did not fall until 47 runs were scored. Mollison, batting at 4, kept the runs coming, but was lacking in partners at the other end. Her 28no was the shinning light in what was a disappointing total when the last batsman was out with Southlands score at 112.

Bowling for South Canterbury, Amber Boyce (who has been named in the Canterbury Magicians squad) with two wickets, and young Chloe Austin 4-32 bowled well.

After the early loss of Lisa Grant (11), Boyce settled into her work, and taking a liking to the shortened boundaries, smashed a typically aggressive 85no. South Canterbury winning easily with the loss of only 2 wickets.

South Canterbury’s next game is against Dunedin in Timaru on 16th November.