An Invitation South Canterbury cricket side will take on their Otago equivalent for the Mark Parker Memorial Trophy on Sunday 22nd February.

It is only the second time the trophy has been up for grabs.

In 2003 it was played for between Christchurch Suburban, South Canterbury, Wellington’s Onslow Cricket Club and Dunedin Metropolitan, with the southern side taking the honours.

The 50-over match will appropriately be played at the Timaru Boys’ High School Rectory, starting at 11.00am.

Parker was killed in the Bali bombings in 2002 and a trust was subsequently set up in the 27-year-old’s honour.

Each year the Mark Parker Memorial Trust, among other things, has sent a Timaru Boys’ High School First XI cricketer to Winchester College in England for a season.

The South Canterbury invitation side will feature three of those who have been recipients of the scholarship, including Jeremy Lane, Alex McKenzie and Bill Walsh.

This year’s beneficiary, Tom Walsh is also in the team, as is Tom Bouch from Winchester College.

They will be joined by the experienced Todd Elliotte, Ryan de Joux, Grant Brookland, Kevin Teahen, Liam Crowley, Struan George and Craig Hinton.

South Canterbury Cricket spokesman Richard Davidson said they were delighted to again get the opportunity to play for the trophy. 

“It’s something special and the boys are aware of the significance it has, so are keen to win it for the first time,” Davidson said.

Dan Laming led his team to victory in the Daily Freightways Cup One Day Final with a solid 75 after earlier bowling tightly and only conceding 26 runs with the ball. He was backed up by a solid team performance after Celtic had earlier restricted Star to 223, a score which always seemed about 40 runs short of a truly competitive total on the Aorangi Oval.Defending Champions Celtic have had a legacy on final spots for many years and were keen to continue this from last season, but Star who hadn’t been in a One Day Final since the 1990s won the toss and decided to bat with the hope of continuing their winning form from the recent club game between the two teams.

Phil McGregor and Andrew McRae got them off to a sound start adding 79 before McRae was out in sight of his half century. James Laming then struck again 6 runs later to remove McGregor for 33, but with 23 overs gone and only 85 on the board the signs were already there that setting a total in excess of 250 was going to be a struggle.

Paul Arkinstall was run out in a mix up shortly later after a good throw from Willy Scott and then Chris Anders and Alexander McKenzie added 65 runs together, but the scoring rate was slow with batsmen not looking for the singles as often as they had displayed in the twenty20 match a week previously.

The pressure went on to up the anti and part time bowler Matt Mealings did a good job in the seven overs he was entrusted with to contain Star, while left arm spinner Sam Carlaw conceded only 33 runs from his nine overs and James Laming had the best analysis with 2-32.

Mark Tutton was also bowling tightly and had picked up two wickets when McKenzie took the long handle to him in the 44th over taking 23 runs off it to ruin his figures.

McKenzie again showed that he relishes playing at Aorangi as his innings grew and he ended up hitting 3 sixes and 6 fours on his way to 71 not out (taking his average to 277 at Aorangi this season), but his onslaught was too little too late as he ran out of overs to cause real damage after the earlier batsmen had scored too slowly.

Celtic got off to a great start despite the vociferous opposition support from the Star corporate box and ‘WAGS’ tent with the Star bowlers struggling to find the correct length to bowl to Ryan De Joux as he drove or pulled the ball on his way to a quick 42. The fall of his wicket with the score at 78 meant Celtic were already in a position to be able to bat sensibly without too many risks and this is what Tutton and Dan Laming set about doing.

A loud appeal for lbw from the first ball to Laming was unrewarded and later Tim Butler bowled him a great over with edges flying to the slip cordon, but these were the last chances he gave as his innings grew in confidence and with Mark Tutton also rising to the big occasion, the pair added 115 for the third wicket and put Star out of the trophy hunt.

The bowlers were changed regularly and McKenzie even bowled some overs of spin as Star tried to create something different, but with Tutton running well between the wickets, as well as picking up nine boundaries on his way to 60, Laming was able to dictate terms. When Laming was out with the score 212, he had done the captain’s job for the team and was very unlucky not to have been there right until the end, but that honour went to James Laming and Matt Mealings as they scored the winning runs with 4 overs to spare.

Scoresheet

Last week it was Craig Hinton who cleaned Celtic up, but this week it was a triumphant return from injury for Todd Elliotte as he mesmerized the Celtic batsmen and made the most of a deteriorating ‘home’ pitch. Elliotte took 4-16 off his 15 overs including 12 maidens, and in tandem with Hamish Dickson who took 3-32 they led the team to an outright victory by more than an innings over Celtic, a rare feat in the Tweedy Cup.When play started Celtic set about batting for most of the day, or at least getting primed for Sunday’s one day final against the same opposition and Ryan De Joux soon had the ball departing regularly to the boundary but unfortunately there was little support from the other end. When De Joux was third out for 55 the total was only 71.

This brought the Laming brothers Dan and James to the crease and they settled in and looked like making it a long day for Star in the field, especially after a couple of reasonable chances were spilled, but the paucity of runs as Elliotte and Dickson tied both ends up placed all the pressure back on to the batsmen. Elliotte got Dan to play on for 32, and then James was out not long after tea for 30 and there was no fight left as Celtic went from 128-4 to be all out for 161.

The other Star bowlers all bowled well too with less reward, but as this was the only outright result of the round, it has allowed Star to jump up to the top of the table, and they will be pleased Waimate took the honours from their match with Timaru who had been leading the competition.

A 10 wicket match bag for Alan Reid almost took Waimate from the bottom of the table to join Star at the top after Timaru had started the day in a strong position at 135-3 with not out batsmen Jordy Morrow on 80 and Hitesh Angrish 38, and while Morrow couldn’t add any further runs, Angrish went on to make 73. Reid took 6-57 and aided by some good fielding and bad running Timaru were dismissed 68 runs short of Waimate’s first innings 285.

Batting a second time Waimate’s captain Nathan Sew Hoy again got into the thirties as did Craig Booth but it was Hayden Matthews who top scored with an unbeaten 59 that allowed the declaration to come at 166-3. Needing 235 runs from only 26 overs was always going to be an uphill battle and wickets fell regularly as the chase went on. When the game started petering out to a draw, wickets to the part timers kept Waimate in the hunt as they came disappointingly close with Timaru 129-9.

In Geraldine it wasn’t the main match that entertained onlookers, but the game within a game played out by young English professional Chris Esh and the multi talented SC five-eight Ritchie Preston.

After waiting all season, Esh finally had things going his way after bowling well without luck since Christmas as he routed the Temuka batsmen to take 8-53 from 33 overs (6 for 30 this week). However, at the other end his battle was different as Preston struck 17 boundaries during the four and a half hours he spent at the crease on his way to making 118. The significance of Preston’s innings shown when you consider that the next highest individual score was 20, and that was scored on the first day.

Temuka was eventually out 40 runs short of first innings points and Geraldine then settled in to bat for the rest of the day and pick up as many bonus batting points as possible in an effort to keep themselves in contention near the top of the table. The friendly bowling helped too with only Adrian Cunningham not rolling his arm over for Temuka and when play ended Geraldine were 202-7.

Score Boards

Craig Hinton bowled his most inspired and timely spell of the season as he took 8-32 against Celtic allowing Star to enforce the follow on with Celtic still 197 runs in arrears. He should have had nine wickets, but his captain decided to share the spoils around after dropping a chance in gully and then snapping it up at the other end.

Star won the toss and batted first on their home ground soon taking advantage of a fairly good pitch. While both openers had departed by the time the score was 58, Paul Arkinstall and Chris Anders established yet another solid partnership and with Arkinstall punishing anything off line they soon added 60 runs before Anders (20) became the first of Ryan De Joux’s three victims in an inspired bowling change. Arkinstall was his second victim, but not before he had powered his way to 77 before again holing out to a boundary fielder.

A mini collapse of 3 wickets for the addition of only 7 runs was corrected when Nathan Tubb joined Twenty20 hero Alexander McKenzie to put on a further 77 runs before Tubb was out for 28. McKenzie continued on after tea to bring up his fifty but after he fell there was little resistance and Star was dismissed for 271, a target that appeared perhaps 30-40 runs light.

Celtic started well as De Joux attacked the bowling, but his 24 runs was to end up being easily the highest score as Hinton found the perfect length and then spent the next 14 overs terrorizing the Celtic batsmen. He clean bowled four batsmen, and had the others either caught in the slip cordon or lbw, and although it may have been his longest spell for some time, there was no way he was giving the ball to anyone else. This was such a good spell of bowling, that several spectators changed plans for the evening so as not to miss a ball.

Jeremy Lane backed him up well at the other end with the prize scalp of Dan Laming to a brilliant diving catch by wicketkeeper Anders (who blotted his copybook shortly after by appearing to celebrate slightly early and dropping an easy chance) and Mark Evans and Hamish Dickson also helped tie one end up, but it was definitely the Hinton show as Celtic were dismissed in the 28th over for 74, and then had the ignominy of having to bat out two more overs before stumps in their second innings.

A lot can happen in a week, and if it doesn’t rain, the Celtic batsmen will be looking for a long day batting to gain back some superiority before the one day final between these two team on the Sunday.

In Waimate it was the players who had failed to fire in the Twenty20 on Friday who were the stars on Saturday. Jordy Morrow took 5-46 for Timaru and then in a new role as an opening batsman was unbeaten on 80 at the close of play. Earlier most of the Waimate top order had made good contributions, but it had been Rafferty Fox batting at No 8 who top scored with 99 runs before being caught that helped Waimate score 285 in their first innings. The match is at an interesting stage with Morrow and partner Hitesh Angrish (38 not out) batting when Timaru resume their innings next week on 135-3 and they may look to try and consolidate their position at the top of the table by targeting first innings points, but Alan Reid who already has all three wickets to fall will be looking for a good ‘bag’ for himself and to put Waimate in the box seat and get themselves off the bottom of the table.

In the local derby between the second and third placed teams Temuka and Geraldine, Geraldine scored 249 with No 10 Phil Lill starring with 57 runs including ten boundaries as he and a very patient Tom McKnight added 46 runs at a run a minute for the final wicket. Earlier Millar with 43 and the middle order of Harper (35), Tate (26) and Franklin (36) had all made solid contributions.

Kevin Teahen toiled hard bowling 25 overs to take 4-87 while Robbie Histen was the next best bowler with 2-56 as it took the Temuka bowlers 75 overs to dismiss Geraldine.

In reply at 70-2 Temuka have lost both openers, but have Ritchie Preston (46 not out) and Teahen at the crease. However, one of these teams really needs to take the initiative and make something happen quickly if they want to get more out of the game than just first innings points. For both teams with the way the draw pans out for the rest of the season this is their best chance to gain valuable points, else they will only be letting teams behind them close the gap in the hunt for a finals berth.

Score Sheets

The inaugural South Canterbury Cricket Speights Twenty20 cricket competition at the Aorangi Bowl was an outstanding success with fine weather, a few hundred spectators and a final where Alexander McKenzie struck a six off the last ball to bring up his century and give the win to the King’s Servants over the Southern Playboys.

The first match got under way at 10am between the Servants and the Ashbury Park Rangers and the Servants, managed by Harvey King and including a lot of promising young players as well as new chairman Andrew McRae, former SC fast bowler Struan George and current SC opening bowler Craig Hinton.

Batting first they impressed with their running between the wickets from the start and the partnership of 88 between Mark Tutton (32) and Liam Crowley (47) set them up for a large total. Crowley was especially damaging taking 30 runs off one hapless bowler. Both batsmen fell and then Matt Mealings with 45 and Hayden Matthews (28) took the score through to 181, and eventually this allowed King’s Servants to score 189-6, an imposing total in 20 overs.

The Ashbury Park Rangers set about the chase positively with opener Tom Bouch bringing up the first fifty of the day off only 40 balls and including five fours and two sixes. Tight bowling by Hinton, two wickets to Sam Devlin and a tidy spell from spinner Sam Carlaw meant the run chase was quickly climbing, and with some outstanding fielding, a feature of the day by all teams, pressure was applied and Tim Mackle (31) and Jordy Morrow (20) were both run out as they tried to keep the scoreboard ticking. In the end the Rangers could only make 156-6, falling 33 runs short and couldn’t replicate Crowley’s big over to keep them in the hunt.

The second match between the Northern Sloggers and the Southern Playboys was a much lower scoring match, with the bowlers keeping a tight rein on proceedings. Matt Sew Hoy returned the best figures with 3-15, but Dan Laming showed his all round class taking a great caught and bowled with the ball mere inches from the ground, and then later following through and running a player out with a direct hit. Laming took 3-18 while Grant Watt with 2-24 and Alan Reid 1-23 both showed their experience against batsmen on the charge.

Julian Danby got the Sloggers under way with 32 but the middle order let the side down and it wasn’t until Chris Esh with 23 and Dillon Lees not out 32 came together adding 47 for the ninth wicket that they managed to post a competitive target of 131.

The Southern Playboys showed their intentions immediately as Nathan Sew Hoy came down the pitch and hit Kevin Teahen for 6 over long leg from the first delivery of the innings. There was no respite when he was out shortly later, as Dan Laming joined Andy Scott and together they soon dispelled any worries Playboy supporters may have had adding 102 for the next wicket before Scott spooned one back to the bowler in sight of victory. Laming continued with his form of the previous week eventually scoring an unbeaten 82 including 5 sixes and 9 fours as the Playboys won in the sixteenth over.

This meant that a now rather raucous crowd would be watching a final between the Kings Servants and Southern Playboys, despite an effort by the ground announcer to muddle the names, but with things happening so quickly the umpires, scorers and organizers should all be commended for their efforts.

The Playboys batted first and after some wild swings Sew Hoy did connect and one spectator, although on crutches managed to leave his seat before the ball cannoned into it. Dan Laming couldn’t repeat his earlier performance and this time it was Andy Scott and Luke Taylor (35) who added 80 runs for the third wicket. Scott went on to cap off a fine double top scoring with 65, while Jason Sew Hoy with 18 and an entertaining 21 by Alan Reid saw the Playboys post 172-2.

Struan George with 2-28, Sam Carlaw with 1-28 and Hinton with 1-30 were the successful bowlers.

The dismissals of Tutton and Crowley cheaply had the Playboys on top and the required run rate was soon ballooning out, but McKenzie and Mealings were slowly getting themselves in and suddenly the buzz around the ground was that maybe these guys could upset the favourites.

Mealings scored an unbeaten 48 to cap off a great day after his 45 earlier, but it was ‘Alpal’ McKenzie who again showed that he likes batting at Aorangi as he set about scoring all around the oval. The Servants needed in excess of 9 runs an over with 10 overs to play and this had gone out past 10 when they only had five overs left, but wickets in hand gives the batsmen the courage to play their shots and McKenzie certainly took advantage. He didn’t play always for boundaries but good placement allowed him to regularly pick up twos and at worst a single and the onlookers were on their toes as a win looked likely.

With nine runs required McKenzie was on 94, a score he had been left stranded on for SC during the last Hawke Cup match, and then 2 leg byes didn’t help his cause, nor losing the strike to Mealings who was nearing his own milestone of fifty. Two runs and a single to McKenzie gave him the strike and the scores were tied with one over left and Laming to bowl. Mckenzie was on 97 and his team mates were hoping he could bring up a century, that no wides were bowled to deny him, and if he hit a boundary that the batsmen didn’t cross which would forfeit the boundary.

The man for the occasion, McKenzie lofted Laming over the wide long on boundary for six and his team (and manager) began the celebrations.

The South Canterbury Cricket Board who ran the game with the idea of encouraging cricket in the region will be pleased with the response while sponsors Speights and Xtreme certainly got good value for their money.

Fittingly, McKenzie cleaned up most of the prizes winning the MVP of the Day, Highest score and most sixes awards while getting to share in the $700 his team won for winning the tournament.

The runners up walk away with $300 and team member Matt Sew Hoy won the bowling award, while Andy Scott was the Southern Playboys MVP, Dillon Lees was the Northern Sloggers MVP and Hayden Leonard picked up the Ashbury Park Rangers MVP award.

Score Sheets

Players who represent the province in four Hawke Cup two-day games will be honoured by having the cap (baggy green) presented in a revival of past times. The idea is to acknowledge a player’s contribution and bring mana (prestige) to the team.

Former New Zealand wicketkeeper John Ward can be seen making a presentation to bowler Kevin Teahen below.

Umpires and captains display the team colours that will be on display when the inaugural Twenty/20 tournament is played at the Aorangi Bowl on Waitangi Day 2009 with $1000 up for grabs.

The fours teams consist of senior teams combined and an invitation team selected by former chairman Harvey King.

The teams are the Southern Playboys (a combination of Waimate and Celtic), the Ashbury Park Rangers (combining Star and Timaru, normally combative foes) and the Northern Sloggers (combining Temuka and Geraldine). The fourth team are known as the Kings Servants, and includes a selection of promising local players and some who have been SC reps, and others who may be in the future.

Matches start at 10.00am with the winner of each of the first two matches playing in a final starting at 3.00pm.

It is with deep sadness that the SCCA notes the passing of one of our Life Members, Rex Bowden in his 79th year.

Rex was born in Timaru in 1930 and attended Timaru Preparatory School and Timaru Boys High School. There he played in the First XI and for South Canterbury in four matches during the 1947/48 season including one match against Fiji in 1947.

During the winter months he played hockey, representing South Canterbury first as a player and later as Captain.

He attended Dunedin Teachers College and played for the Albion-YMCA Cricket Club before returning to teach at primary school level in Timaru. Here he coached and played for the Old Boys Cricket Club.

Rex served on the South Canterbury Cricket Association for many years and was elected a life-member in 1976. In 1976 he was presented with the Rothmans National Cricket Coaching Scheme Award for Outstanding Service to Coaching.

In 1957 he was elected Secretary of the South Canterbury Cricket Umpires Association holding the position twice from 1957 – 1960 and 1961 – 1964. To the great regret of many, he retired in 1973 – but not from cricket.

Rex then spent the next years researching the Timaru Herald newspaper archives, sometimes spending up to four days a week in the basement of the Timaru Public Library. He recorded every report of cricket from 1864 until 1993; his efforts were completed in 1993 with the publication of his book, GREEN FIELDS OF YESTERYEARS.

It is from his original and ongoing research that many of the published and previously unpublished score sheets that now appear in the most recent publication called Seasons of Cricket. Rex was one of the three authors of this publication.

WHEN Harvey King stepped into South Canterbury Cricket top job the association was on the brink of financial disaster with a big fight on its hands.

A decade later, while no large cash surpluses existed, the association has a healthy balance sheet and its future looks bright.

King, a lively bowler in his time, has enjoyed his time in charge immensely, but believes the time is right to move on.

He hands over the reins to lawyer Andrew McRae, who still plays senior cricket for Star as a batsman. “It’s just time to move on and Andrew is a very good cricket man, with fresh ideas and enthusiasm.”
McRae had previously been involved with Old Boys Collegians and Canterbury Cricket, before moving to Timaru.

Fortunately, King will not be lost to cricket. Last year, he was elected to the board of Canterbury Cricket. He intends to stay on.

The former chairman says he has enjoyed his time at the helm of South Canterbury.
“I guess its a job where you have to roll the sleeves up and get stuck in.”

Highlights of his time in charge include the building of the Graeme Blanchard Centre, a facility that allows the cricketers to train all year round, and hosting first-class games at Aorangi Oval, which in the main were run-fests. King hopes they will return despite the off-field facilities not being up to the standards demanded by New Zealand Cricket.

“We are hoping to gain a temporary warrant of fitness to allow domestic one-dayers or Twenty-20 games to return because they were popular, including with the players.”
Always a true competitor, King is also pleased that the junior cricketers, from primary to under 19, are starting to taste success.

The senior side winning the Hawke Cup also rates as a big highlight, he said. “You hope cricketers develop and for us the Hawke Cup is the big one.”

King said the appointment of an executive officer run the daily business was a real bonus. “Graham Broker is doing a great job, and it keeps us ticking over nicely.”
However, he admits the role of chairman in South Canterbury is a broad one. “South Canterbury, and associations like ours the top job doesn’t mean you don’t keep the shoulder to the wheel.”

A passionate man, King still umpires, helps with coaching and keeps his hand in at the grassroots of the game.
“Cricket gave me some great times, so I was happy to give something back, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support from Lois and the family.”

Dan Laming made up for lost chances this season as he put the Temuka bowling attack to the sword on his way to a chanceless 162, bringing up his first fifty off 35 balls, his second off 45 and the third fifty off only a further 25 deliveries. This helped Celtic post 336 off their 45 overs, thus assuring themselves of one of the final spots for the Daily Freightways One Day Trophy.

In Geraldine, Waimate won to keep themselves in with a chance for the other finals berth, or at least a countback if Timaru won their match, but Star, who so often have been the chokers in this and recent seasons when it comes down to the big matches did not let Timaru ruin their parade as they outplayed them on a difficult wicket to win and go through to meet Celtic in a fortnight’s time.

Celtic won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first at the Aorangi Oval. Despite losing 2 wickets early on, the score was already moving along quickly before the 200 run partnership between Laming and Mark Tutton who scored 67 soon had the Temuka fielders fetching the ball from far and wide. None of the bowlers were spared and the numerous spectators were treated to a batting master class as Laming scored 17 boundaries including four sixes. James Laming also joined the fray with an unbeaten 47.

Temuka, already out of the competition set about the chase in a positive manner with Julian Danby starring with 134 off 104 balls. His third club century of the season included partnerships of 63, 42, 48 and 43, but chasing a total of this size at 7 ½ runs an over is an onerous task no matter how good your line up, and to finish on 242 was a very respectable score, even if still 94 runs short. For Celtic James Laming and Mark Tutton both picked up 3 wickets, but none of the bowlers had flattering figures on a day where the bat dominated.

Timaru’s best chance of making the final was for them to beat Star and hope that Waimate beat Geraldine as Timaru would then go through on round robin results where they had won one match and the other had been washed out. With this in mind they asked Star to bat first.

Star began poorly losing McGregor and Arkinstall (previously in form batsmen) without scoring, and then the third wicket at 35. However Chris Anders hadn’t lost any form as he and Alexander McKenzie put on 77 runs before McKenzie lofted an on drive to be out for 38. Anders continued on adding a further 66 runs with Bouch (19), as they ran well between the wickets and picked up the run rate markedly. A target well in excess of 200 looked achievable, but the dismissal of Anders, run out for 79, allowed Timaru to put the brakes on and only 36 further runs were scored in the last 10 overs, with Star finishing at 209-8.

Timaru’s reply began well with Gerald Piddock, Robbie Rankin and Hayden Butler all getting into double figures. The ever present threat of rain and the deteriorating light meant score targets and runs per over were being closely monitored, remembering that 20 overs constitutes a match and a no result would only benefit Star.

At the 20 over stage Timaru were only 2 runs behind the required rate when, as they have regularly done this season, they lost wickets in a bunch going from 99-1 to 101-4. A couple of quiet overs and the loss of wickets suddenly meant they were 20 runs behind the asking rate. Tim Mackle (20) tried to pick it up but clever bowling changes countered that, and as the rain fell more heavily Timaru’s asking rate climbed above eight per over. Not normally a difficult ask, but with the overhead conditions and lack of wickets in hand, Timaru’s chase faded and they were eventually all out for 170.

All Star’s bowlers contributed with Jeremy Lane redeeming himself from a week ago with 2-24 from 9 overs, while McKenzie, Mark Evans and Hamish Dickson each grabbed a pair too.

With both teams needing victory to have any chance at a final Waimate batted first with Matt Devlin opening in his club swansong before departing for Australia. It wasn’t a great send off and Waimate were soon in deep trouble at 58-5 before Alan Reid with 38 and Jason Sew Hoy 34 added some substance allowing Waimate to post a competitive 183. Tom McKnight had a successful day with the ball for Geraldine taking 3 of the first 4 wickets to fall.

Geraldine’s reply was built around Stephen Pagan’s 53, but unfortunately only Regan Tate with 35 got going and tight bowling, especially by Reuben Allan with 2-6 off six overs and good fielding saw Waimate dismiss Geraldine 16 runs short in another nailbiter.

With the One Day finalists decided, we can look forward to the Twenty/20 Tournament all day this Friday at Aorangi Oval and the resumption of the Tweedy Cup next Saturday.

Score sheets