The Board has received funding approval to purchase new covers for Aorangi Oval.

There will be two covers for sale. One is in better shape than the other.

Any Club interested in purchasing one or both of the covers should submit a written price by 13 January.

I would suggest that interested clubs should firstly approach Brian Hyslop to discuss and view the covers for sale.

This weekend sees the inaugural SC Cricket Board Twenty/20 Tournament which will be played between four teams throughout the day at the Aorangi Oval on December 20th.

       

There should be plenty of fun and entertainment for players and spectators alike with The Loaded Hog and Speights major sponsors as well as having the Port FM outside broadcast unit also in attendance.

$1000 first prize is up for grabs for the winning team.

There are four teams made up as follows;

Northern Sloggers – Geraldine/Temuka combined
Installed as favourites by coach/manager Graeme Broker from his ‘unbiased’ position as SCCA CEO. Includes in form batsmen Julian Danby and Stephen Pagan as well as star bowler Kevin Teahen.

Ashbury Park Rangers – Star/Timaru combined
These teams are able to call upon a large number of rep players and should have the strongest bowling attack

Southern Playboys – Celtic/Waimate combined
There is no doubt about the strength of the Celtic batting especially with their own “Mr Cricket” Dan Laming and the addition of the big hitting Sew Hoy brothers from Waimate should make this the team to watch

Kings Servants – This is an Invitation XI picked by SCCA Chairman & Canterbury Cricket Board member Harvey King and while expected to give some of the local schoolboy talent an opportunity in the big time, may also provide some surprise selections. These players will be expected to perform with the same dedication Harvey showed in his playing days as evidenced by their team name!

The first game starts at 10.00am between the Rangers & Servants.

Match 2 sees the Sloggers take on the Playboys at 12.45pm

The final is to be played between the winners of the first two matches and will start at 3.00 pm

It should be a great day’s entertainment with many of South Canterbury’s best cricketers on display and is free to watch.

Bring your family and children along for a great day’s cricket.

Outright victory by 8 wickets for South Canterbury over Buller in the latest round of the Hawke Cup means that the 08/09 campaign is definitely on track, and reverses a disappointing result against Buller last season.

New coach Richard Davidson said that “not only was the team meeting season plans and aspirations, but game by game match plans were also being carried out”.Buller won the toss and decided to bat first on the Geraldine Oval, a decision that appeared vindicated as the opening batsmen added 55 runs for the first wicket before wicketkeeper Luke Taylor took the first of his 6 catches for the match.

Dan Laming then removed the other opener soon after and proceeded to pick up the next 3 wickets in a great spell as he took 4-41 including traditional nemesis Troy Scanlon for only 9. Add a timely run out by Grant Brookland and SC soon dismissed Buller who collapsed from 97-3 to be all out for for 135. Except for 2 overs by Todd Elliotte only the three bowlers were used and they all returned good figures with Craig Hinton taking 3-40 and Kevin Teahen 2-41.

Ben Millar was out without troubling the scorers but then Craig Davies and Julian Danby added 60 for the 2nd wicket as SC set about gaining a sizeable lead.

Once again Julian Danby thrived in his debut season as he scored a century to follow up his previous innings of 87. His 118 came off 190 balls and included 1 six and 10 fours. He added a further 84 in partnership with Dan Laming (39) and was the 6th SC batsman out when the total was at 201.

The loss of 3 further wickets quickly after Danby’s dismissal saw the declaration come at 213-9 giving South Canterbury a 78 run lead and first innings points.

Two early breakthroughs by Craig Hinton kept hopes of an outright high as Buller lost both openers while still 50 runs in arrears, but this time the resistance came from A Duncan and Troy Scanlon as they both went on to post fifties adding 97 runs for the 3rd wicket.

This time it was tireless workhorse Teahen who got the breakthrough, dismissing both batsmen. Over the two days Teahen bowled 42 overs and took 5-121, a marathon effort for a medium pacer. Hinton added to his impressive tally with 2-19, while the Laming brothers kept scoring at a minimum.

At one stage while Buller, who played the match in good spirit, while scoring at a good rate looked as though they may declare and try to turn the game around if SC lost quick wickets during the chase. However, the decision was taken out of their hands after Todd Elliotte finished a long spell, that at times included very enticing deliveries (presumably to speed the scoring rate up) by cleaning up the lower order as he took 4-68 from 28 overs.

This meant that with 23 overs left in the days play SC needed to score 151 to win outright at a rate of more than 6.5 runs per over.

Not daunted SC opened with the in form (and in luck) Danby and Davies and they thrived as they set about the chase. The pair added 70 for the first wicket before Davies was out for 48 in the 10th over. Danby continued to ride his luck (he was dropped 8 times during the match) as he blasted an unbeaten 62 from 47 balls in partnerships with Luke Taylor, who produced a cameo 18, and Dan Laming with 21 not out to let South Canterbury secure outright victory with 2 overs to spare.

Now that both the West Coast and Buller have been beaten outright, SC only need a similar result against Mid Canterbury on the 10th January in Ashburton to be playing the zone final against Canterbury Country in Timaru the following weekend. SC has already beaten Mid Canterbury convincingly this season in the Biggar Memorial one day fixture, so should be able to approach the next match confidently.

Part of the ‘season plan’ may see an interesting scenario if an outright victory is achieved over Mid Canterbury. Rain the following weekend could see SC qualify top above Canterbury Country, although I am sure SC would like to beat them properly before going on to contest the South Island play-off.

Scoresheet

The latest round of senior cricket again produced some interesting results with all home teams losing as the season continued in a topsy-turvy manner. Although some clubs were affected by the loss of players to representative duty, Geraldine this week contributed to Star’s demise at Ashbury, Waimate had a big win over Temuka and Celtic beat Timaru in a very low scoring encounter.Waimate and Celtic now move to first equal in the one day competition and will make their combined team for next weekend’s Twenty/20 tournament an early favourite, although the return of rep players to the Temuka/Geraldine and Timaru/Star composite teams will certainly have something to say about that.

Temuka won the toss and asked Waimate to bat and after an early breakthrough then had to watch as Alan Reid with 40 and Nathan Sew Hoy 70 put together a solid partnership. A typical Waimate batting collapse saw most of the middle order come and go quickly and Temuka back into the game before Jason Sew Hoy, growing in confidence as the season continues scored another powerful 87 before being run out, and with the support of Matt Devlin (32) had helped Waimate post an impressive 274-8 from 45 overs.

The Temuka bowlers all took some stick but Dillon Lees (3-53) and Taj Bullivant (2-41) were the most successful.

In reply Michael Geddes with a half century and Willie Stone (26) got Temuka off to a good start in their chase, and although Ritchie Preston, Hayden Broker and Dillon Lees got into double figures, Waimate weren’t going to let this one get away easily. Reuben Allan was miserly with the ball taking 3-29, but it was Alan Reid who opened Temuka up by dismissing the first 3 batsmen, and Temuka were eventually all out in the 34th over for 173.

Star’s run of near misses continued, this time against Geraldine who had come to town with their own vociferous and colourful supporters. Star batted first and after an early setback Captain Phil McGregor (39) and Andy McRae (34) added 58 runs for the 2nd wicket to get the innings on track. Geraldine’s bowlers then made regular breakthroughs with Chris Esh with 2-20 having one of his more successful spells of the season. Phil Chapman 3-55 and Guy Metcalf 2-40 were also successful and Geraldine restricted Star to 177-9.

Despite a number of confident appeals by Star, Geraldine got off to a good start with experienced Stephen Pagan 46 and Phil Lill 35 adding 75 for the first wicket. Metcalf continued a good day with 26 and Hamish Drennan with 30 showed how much he is missed when unavailable as Geraldine got through to 162-6 and needing 15 runs from the last 5 overs, what seemed a relatively simple task. However Tim Butler who only conceded 19 runs and Mark Evans with 4-32 from their 9 overs kept the brakes on and as the pressure went on and another wicket fell, Geraldine were faltering and the cold easterly seemed more intense, but young English pro Esh was not ruining his good day with the ball, as he strode to the wicket and batted positively to see his Geraldine team through to victory with an over to spare.

In the third senior match, weakened Celtic and Timaru sides finished early after Timaru were dismissed for 60 chasing 96 to win in a match that certainly saw the bowlers dominate.

Scoreboards

SC declared about 75 runs ahead on the first innings against Buller in their Hawke Cup match at Geraldine Oval and since then Buller have batted positively on the second day after lunch and have a 60 run lead as they look to possibly set up a sporting declaration.

ANOTHER outstanding bowling performance by Kevin Teahen with 7-20 to follow up team-mate Julian Danby’s second century of the season delivered Temuka a crushing 103-run victory over defending champions Celtic in the latest round of the Daily Freightways Trophy.

The other matches were even more intriguing, as results were achieved only in the final over. At Ashbury Park, wicketkeeper Tim Mackle’s unbeaten 90 sealed victory for Timaru in the local derby after Star again managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Geraldine bowled Waimate all out with one ball to spare and four runs still needed in a Knottingley Park nailbiter.

Temuka batted first at home and were 36-2 when Danby arrived at the crease. His innings of 100 dominated not only the Celtic bowlers but the Temuka scoreboard as he continued his fine season. While other batsmen got starts, it was in a supporting role that they were best, and tallied with another large extras total by Celtic, Temuka were able to post a competitive 219-9.

Celtic were soon in trouble as Teahen’s first breakthrough came with the total on 7. Although opener Ryan De Joux with 29 and Mark Tutton in the middle order with 39 showed some resistance, it soon became the Kevin Teahen show as he took his seven wickets from nine overs. He was well supported in the field, especially by Adrian Cunningham who took five catches. If it had not been for a ninth-wicket partnership of 29 the match might have been over even earlier.

A devastating knock (for Star supporters) by Tim Mackle took the match away from Star’s grasp as they again failed to finish off the job. Star batted first in what also doubled as a Twenty/20 trial and after losing an early wicket settled in as Chris Anders and Nathan Tubb got starts before an unbeaten 86-run partnership between Todd Elliotte with 44 and Mark Evans 35 got Star through to 206-6 off their 45 overs.

In reply, Robbie Rankin and Gerald Piddock added 28 runs for the first wicket before the middle order began a steady procession back to the pavilion and Star were in control with Timaru 60-6.

Mackle and Jordy Morrow together set about resurrecting the innings and together added 108 runs before Morrow was out top edging a cut shot four runs short of his 50.

This changed little as Mackle treated all the bowlers with the same disdain, hitting the ball cleanly and regularly to or over the boundary. He was noticeably hard on himself when mistiming or opting for the wrong shot, but after a let-off with a dropped catch he added a further 40 runs in tandem with Hayden Leonard to give Timaru the win with four balls to spare, reminiscent of last season’s two-day match.

Geraldine made the most of their long trip to Waimate with Ben Millar 39 and Stephen Pagan 37 adding 56 runs for the first wicket. After their wickets fell, though most batsmen got off the mark no one stood out. Eventually, Geraldine posted 156-9. Matt Devlin’s left-arm spin claimed four wickets for Waimate. Reuben Allan’s two wickets came from a miserly nine overs that only conceded nine runs.

The target of 157 was always on as Nathan Sew Hoy 24 and Craig Booth 29 led the way for Waimate but this week the tail did not have as much sting and Waimate were eventually dismissed four runs short of a tie and five short of a win from the second-last ball of the day, with Geraldine off-spinner Chris Esh finishing off a tidy spell to take 4-28.

These latest results in the one-day competition mean that only one win separates all six sides, with Timaru, Star and Celtic on 15 points, and Temuka, Waimate and Geraldine on nine. No team yet has a jump on the field in securing a finals spot.

Scoreboards

Victory by an innings and 69 runs against the West Coast in the first round of the Hawke Cup was the ideal way for South Canterbury to open their 2008-09 campaign after making the long trip to Greymouth.

Captain Todd Elliotte won the toss and decided to bat first and despite losing the first wicket with only 4 runs on the board Ben Millar and debutant Julian Danby soon put SC back in control as they added 70 runs for the second wicket before Millar was run out for24.

Danby was then joined by the in form Dan Laming and the pair kept the scoreboard moving along at a run a ball before Danby was caught after a 2 hour stay at the crease for 87 off only 94 deliveries. The pressure on the West Coast bowlers didn’t ease as Dan was joined by his brother James and they added a further 40 runs for the 4th wicket before a James was out for 22.

Dan continued scoring in good time with Liam Crowley before being out caught for a rapid 63 which included 11 boundaries. Crowley made the most of his opportunity by scoring his first 50 for South Canterbury as he and Matt Mealings built a fifty run partnership before Crowley’s run out for 56 brought about the declaration at 271-7 by Elliotte.

With 59 overs to be bowled in the day SC were soon making the most of every opportunity as Craig Hinton blew the West Coast innings apart taking two wickets in his second over followed by wickets in each of his subsequent overs on his way to a most impressive spell of 5 – 12 from 11 overs and continuing the form that had seem him get a hat-trick the previous weekend in club cricket. He was well supported by Kevin Teahen with 2-28 as between them they removed 7 of the first 8 batsmen.

This was all too much for the Coasters who collapsed to 31-7 before the 8th wicket partnership saw them struggle through to 50, but then Elliotte again turned the screws by introducing Craig Davies who quickly wiped up the tail with his off-spin on his way to 3 for 10 from 4.1 overs. Davies will be mortified that nine of the ten runs he conceded came off one over!

West Coast’s first innings produced a paltry 65 runs from 31 overs and Elliotte had no hesitation in enforcing the follow on. The opening batsmen provided little more resistance than in the first innings, although this time Teahen was the leading strike force and Coast were soon 12-3, before a rally of sorts saw them get through to 18-3 after 18 overs at the end of Day One.

Overnight entertainment, Coast style must have put some steel back into the locals as they thwarted SC’s attempts to finish the game off and return home early. N Cumming batted two and a half hours for his 44 runs and N Cochrane batted an hour and a half for 29 and together they added 65 runs but it was a ‘climb too high’ and eventually Elliotte’s experience and guile got on top as he made a big breakthrough with Cumming’s wicket and then mopped up the tail on his way to 4-47.

Teahen with 3-40 and Hinton 2-26 capped off fine bowling displays and West Coast were dismissed a second time for 137 giving South Canterbury the outright win.

Scoresheet

The next round of the Hawke Cup is against Buller in Timaru on Dec 13th and 14th.

A WAIMATE cricketer played an almost perfect game recently.

Brad King scored a century with the bat and took a hat-trick with the ball in a game against Timaru Boys High School in Waimate.

The 15-year-old has been playing cricket for about five years. While he has previously played at a higher level, King said he chose to step down and play fourth grade this year to have a bit of fun with the bat.

His hat-trick in the game came in the second innings and all his victims were clean-bowled.

It was not the first time he has claimed a hat-trick,doing the same once before playing for his school team.

Over the course of the match he also managed to take six wickets with the ball.

Batting at number three, he then went on to score 106 runs in 25 overs, which included a hat-trick of sixes.

” I played sort of safe, usually I’m a bit of a slogger,” he laughed.

Brad’s mother Sue said it was quite exciting to watch as he was usually in and out.

“This year he’s been getting a lot of runs very quick. He’s definitely a bit of a slogger.”

The Waimate fourth grade team have not lost a game yet this season with one draw.

For his efforts, Brad was awarded player of the month for South Canterbury Cricket.

Waimate produced a major upset when Jason SewHoy batting at No 8 produced a powerful display of clean hitting to score an unbeaten 76 and see Waimate through to victory over Celtic. Temuka succumbed to Star in just 24 overs while Timaru were unable to field a full team in Geraldine and subsequently lost.The Celtic versus Waimate match doubled as a trial game for the Twenty/20 competition to be played at the Aorangi Bowl on December 20th when these two teams combine to make up one of the 4 teams for the $1000 tournament.

Celtic won the toss and even though they were minus a number of players on representative duty still fielded a strong team. They lost an early wicket before Ryan DeJoux and Mark Tutton (27) added 115 for the 2nd wicket with DeJoux showing class of old as he battered the bowling to all parts of the ground before playing a lazy shot in site of his ‘ton’ and was out for 94 (10 x 4, 4 x 6), but looked to have done enough to set Celtic up for a massive total after getting to 190 for the loss of only 4 wickets.

Waimate toiled away with Allan Reid only conceding 27 runs from his 9 overs but it was the introduction of Matt Devlin’s left-arm spin and the medium pace of Reuben Allan that changed the shape of the match. Devlin took the prized wickets of the DeJouxs and then Allan grabbed 5-39 in a great spell that saw Celtic’s last five wickets fall for only 18 runs as they failed to bat out their 45 overs, thus undoing much of Ryan DeJoux’s good work.

In reply Waimate were soon in trouble, and after Sam Carlaw took a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Hayden Matthews were precariously placed at 55-5 and it looked like it may be early drinks all round, but Waimate again showed they can fight when the chips are down and this time it was Reuben Allan with 43 leading the way as he put partnerships of 45 and 30 with Reid and Jason SewHoy together before Ryan DeJoux took a screamer at square leg to dismiss him.

As SewHoy’s confidence grew so did the strength of the shots, and although he lost a partner quickly his scoring rate suddenly gave Waimate hope as they began regularly scoring 8 and more an over. Alongside Sam Devlin (17) he saw the score through to 165 before SewHoy was joined by No 11 Richard Ford. By now the spectators were under threat as SewHoy brought up his first senior fifty with one of his 6 sixes.

As the pressure went on, the bowlers were found wanting, helping the cause by conceding 40 extras, and were unable to stop SewHoy keeping the strike. Ford survived a good over from Grant Watt, before SewHoy with a flurry of sixes including one that left the ground, crossed Rockdale Rd and landed in the far paddock; saw Waimate through to 217-9 and victory with 4 overs to spare. The significance of SewHoy’s batting easily seen in the final partnership as they added 52 runs and Ford finished 0 not out.

In Temuka a half century to Hamish Dickson and the inexperience of the Temuka batsmen proved the major difference as Star made 185 with Phil McGregor (36) the only other batsman to really get going, but in reply Temuka put up little resistance as Tim Butler with 4-29 and Mark Evans 3-29 helped to dismiss them for 97 and keep Star leading the competition.

Timaru will be asking their club mates lots of questions after only turning up in Geraldine with 9 players, and subsequently lost after Geraldine won the toss and batted first scoring 261-6 from their 45 overs. Matt Barnes produced his best innings since arriving in SC with 100 while the availability of Hamish Drennan also provided dividends as he finished 85 not out. In reply Timaru would be relatively pleased to get to 206, but will be asking “what if” had they fronted with a full team.

Scoresheets