For two young English cricketers, their stay in South Canterbury went to script. Chris Esh and Matthew Barnes arrived in the country in October to help bolster a Geraldine side struggling for numbers and left yesterday with a championship under their belts.

On Sunday, Geraldine beat Star on the first innings to secure their first Tweedy Cup two-day triumph in nine years.

Batsman Barnes made a tidy 53 in the run chase and ran out one of the openers, while Esh took one wicket from his 24 overs.

Their contribution in getting Geraldine to the final was, however, far bigger.

Off-spinner Esh took 18 wickets, including a hat-trick in the two previous games, almost single-handedly ensuring his side made the final.

Barnes, who was appointed captain, was the top run scorer in senior cricket, scoring two 100s and three 50s along the way.

The talented batsman, however, chose not to play representative cricket, so had more opportunities than Celtic’s prolific Dan Laming. Barnes was happy with his time.

“If you said when I arrived I’d score 614 runs and have a club championship, I’d be delighted.

“It’s not an individual game and everyone has to play their part, which Pags [Stephen Pagan], Ben [Millar] and Drens [Hamish Drennan] did.”

Esh said he wished he wasn’t heading home.

“I’d love to be staying and I’d obviously love to come back.

“I guess early on it didn’t go my way and I didn’t take enough wickets, but I was happy with the finish. It’s been a fantastic time.”

Esh said Phil Chapman the number 11 batsman who scored the winning runs through four leg byes would be a legend in Geraldine forever.

“I was wondering if it would go our way.”

For the 18-year-old, coming to New Zealand was his first time on a plane and he said it was a great experience.

“I love New Zealand.”

Both cricketers also wanted to thank the sponsors who made their trip possible and the two families who had looked after them in Geraldine.

Esh and Barnes return to Bedfordshire, where both want to continue with their cricket and hope to return next season.

The pair also worked for South Canterbury Cricket delivering the Milo and Kiwi cricket programmes to rural schools.

South Canterbury Cricket spokesperson Richard Davidson said the boys had contributed to Geraldine’s success.

“They were struggling for numbers, but in the end had to pick a team from 14 players.

“They also contributed well to rural schools, including Fairlie, Geraldine and Waimate.”

In a fitting end to the season, the final of the Tweedy Cup Senior Two Day cricket competition came down to a nerve wracking last hour and a half before Geraldine were eventually able to begin celebrating their first win since the 1999/00 season. Guy Metcalf will be first in line for drinks after he took 2-6 with the ball and followed that up with a very solid 75, part of the better team effort in the match.

Geraldine had looked to be cruising to victory at 195-4 chasing 262 for the first innings lead, and hence the trophy, when suddenly Star got themselves back into the match. They dismissed a mercurial Matt Barnes for 53 and then when danger man Hamish Drennan followed for only 7 shortly later suddenly the Star players body language changed as they realized they were still in with a chance.

An inspired bowling change by Phil McGregor when he brought Jeremy Lane back into the attack paid dividends after he dismissed Guy Metcalf and then Tim Sowden next ball to finish the over with a hat trick pending and Geraldine suddenly in trouble at 239 – 7.

Regan Tate got to 21 before the “caught Arkinstall, bowled Hinton” pair struck again and Geraldine were perilously poised at 256-8. Chris Esh joined Phil Lill at the crease, but this time he couldn’t see Geraldine through as he had done in the round robin match after lofting a ball to McGregor at mid-off having advanced the score only 2 runs to 258-9.

The outwardly appearing calm figure of Phil Chapman, the self-proclaimed “Chris Martin” of the Geraldine team strode to the middle to face a fired up Lane. He successfully negotiated the first delivery before Lane strayed onto leg with the next delivery and he was good enough to get pad on it as it ran agonizingly slowly for the Geraldine team and supporters to the boundary to give them victory.

Star who have had a very successful season making the final of both one day and two day finals, will feel dejected after picking up the ‘bridesmaid’ tag in both finals, and it was unfortunate for them in both cases that they were not able to follow up good plans with execution.

After winning the toss they batted first on the Oval, which is renowned for being a batsmen’s paradise, and they knew they would need to bat all day, possibly longer and set an imposing total so that their bowlers had plenty to play with.

Phil McGregor continued as he has all season, opening and playing the anchor role while the others score around him. He lost Tom Bouch early after he forgot to ground his bat running to the non-strikers end and was run out by a direct hit by Matt Barnes. Paul Arkinstall helped get the score through to 47 before he fell for 24, and then Todd Elliotte joined him and together the pair added 138 runs with Elliotte dominating all the bowlers as he got the scoreboard ticking. Unfortunately for Todd, he fell 3 runs short of what would have been his second club century after a successful LBW appeal.

McGregor continued on, not losing his wicket as often happens after a long partnership, but there was a steady procession back to the pavilion as the Geraldine medium pacers quickly showed that bowling wicket to wicket was the best way of restricting batsmen, and forced many to play injudicious shots as the pressure was applied.

Sowden and Tom McKnight toiled away successfully with Chris Esh into the wind, while Chapman and Metcalf picked up the wickets downwind, as seven Star batsmen failed to make double figures. McGregor was eventually out after 276 minutes for a solid 84, but his team was always at least fifty runs short after being dismissed for 261.

With 13 overs to be bowled before stumps, Star were happy at stumps with Stephen Pagan back in the shed after a brilliant diving catch by Hamish Dickson in the gully, and Geraldine 10-1, but night watchman McKnight soon showed the next morning he had other ideas, setting up what became a successful run chase.

In partnership with Ben Millar, and all day to bat, they took their time as they got themselves in and then worried about the runs. When Millar went for 48, the pair had added 78 runs, and although McKnight was out 12 runs later for 33, some of the shine was gone and this and the following partnerships became the difference between the teams.

The Star bowlers tried hard all day with Craig Hinton taking 4 wickets from 28 overs, while Todd Elliotte and Tim Butler made the initial breakthroughs, but as it turned out, the paucity of runs on the board by Star made it tough work on the bowlers as they tried to peg Geraldine back, and in the end the thrilling finish was a real fillip for those administrators and spectators who had braved the cold southerly for two days.

Score Board

South Canterbury JAB cricket teams played Christchurch Metro in three matches at Geraldine Oval on Sunday. Two of these were lost, but the SC Primary A team pulled off a rare win in a tight game.

Batting first, SC reached 123 for 9 off 50 overs on an outfield more suited for winter sports codes.

Patrick Simpson (38) and Alistair Harvey (19) batted well, putting on a 50-run partnership for the third wicket. A cameo from James Hawkey (13 not out) and Conor Scott saw SC through to a modest 123 runs.

Fast bowler Liam Cosgrove took the top off the Christchurch batting order and they were in trouble at 29 for 4.

At 83 for five the game was in the balance, but some tight boling from Brett Walker, Michael Lees, Conor Scott and Nick O’Brien, backed up by excellent fielding and catching saw wickets fall at regular intervals.

With pressure mounting, the last five Christchurch wickets fell for just 28 runs, to give SC the win by 13 runs.

The SC Development team, batting first, were all out for 105, with only Steve Phillips (25) making it into double figures. Metro reached their target for the loss of three wickets, with Fred Scott and Caleb Grace claiming a wicket a piece.

A young SC year 5 and 6 team also struggled against their Christchurch opposition, being dismissed for 71 runs, with Will Harvey top-scoring with 14 runs. In reply Metro raced to their target in 14 overs, but not before Ben Aicken had taken three wickets.

Although this is not yet official (I may be revved up Monday), at this stage the various cricket competition grade winners for the 2008/2009 season appear to be as follows:

Senior: Geraldine (story coming later)

Senior Reserve: Celtic

Second Grade: Waimate

Presidents: Celtic

Fourth Grade: Waimate

Womens Grade: Ashburton College

This weekend Star will take on the top qualifiers Geraldine in a two day match for the Tweedy Cup where it is hard to predict the outcome. In their previous encounters, Geraldine took outright points in the two day match after successfully chasing down 141 runs in only 16 overs with two balls to spare. This was after former South Canterbury opening batsman Stephen Pagan had scored 77 not out batting at number 10 to give Geraldine a first innings lead. However honours were squared in the one day matches.

Star have had the most recent success in the Tweedy Cup after beating Celtic in the 2004-05 season to get their name on the cup, while for Geraldine a berth in the final is further into the archives.

On paper, Star captain Phil McGregor should be spoiled for choice with a bowling lineup to call on that features SC opening bowler Craig Hinton (who also topped the club averages), as well as the equally well performed Mark Evans, not to mention Hamish Dickson, Jeremy Lane, Tim Butler and the experienced off-spin of Todd Elliotte.

Opposing that Geraldine has the experienced Pagan who knows how to rise to the big match occasion, English professional Matt Barnes who was the second highest run scorer in South Canterbury for the club season, Hamish Drennan who can turn a game with his aggressive batting, and the consistent Guy Metcalf and Regan Tate. If all the batsmen step up and support each other, it could be a great spectacle, especially as it is being played on a batsmen’s paradise on the Aorangi Oval, notorious for making the best of bowlers work very hard for any reward.

While the Star batting lineup may seem slightly weaker, Tom Bouch and McGregor have usually got their team off to a solid start, and Paul Arkinstall, now restricted to playing as a batsman has played well in the last couple of months, while wicketkeeper Chris Anders has not only enjoyed his job behind the stumps, but also in front of them as well averaging almost 40 with the bat. There is plenty more experience down the order for Star too, and as long as the team have a clear understanding of their game plan, and are all on the same page, Star are capable of posting impressive scores.

For the Geraldine bowling attack, their whole season improved once Drennan became able to play regularly and he has bowled quickly and with good rhythm to trouble most opposition. He has been supported by spinner Chris Esh, the other English professional in the side. Esh had a hapless start to his NZ stay but has now been picking up wickets by the handful in recent matches. With Tom McKnight, Phil Chapman and Guy Metcalf to back them up, the quest for superiority between the two bowling and batting attacks should make for a great tussle.

Both teams start the match from scratch, as all points are removed and must play for the best possible result. Winning the toss and batting all day is fine, as long as you can dismiss the opposition for less and at least achieve a first innings win. If things go awry in your first innings you may then have to turn the match around and look for an outright result to counter your first innings failings.

The match begins on both days at 10.30am and whether you support a team or are just cricket in general, you should have a pleasurable two days.

Below are the unofficial batting and bowling averages according to received records for the complete season. These include both two day and one day matches, but exclude the Twenty20 competition. Of special interest is that Dan Laming again proved he is the districts finest all rounder, leading the batting aggregate with 600 runs including one century (162 in a one day game) and five half centuries, as well as being second in the bowling averages. He may have scored more runs and taken more wickets, if he had not been away on representative duty.

Julian Danby scored 3 centuries, and Matt Barnes scored 2 centuries and 3 fifties, while Kevin Teahen with 34 took the most wickets for the third season in a row. Saturday combatants, Hinton and Esh both achieved hat-tricks this year, and fittingly both took 8 wicket bags.

To qualify batsmen need to have scored 240 or more runs and average over 25, while bowlers need to have taken 14 or more wickets and bowled more than 50 overs.

Proviso:

The following records are not official, but listed according to the score sheets and information I have received to date. 

Batting:

Bowling:

SOUTH Canterbury JAB rep cricket finally got under way with both teams recording wins against North Otago in games on Sunday. North Otago won the toss and elected to bat first in the A game played on an Aorangi Oval wicket that looked full of runs.

A solid bowling and fielding display saw North Otago dismissed for just 67 runs. In his wicketkeeping debut for the SC As, Henry Morley-Hall gloved three catches behind the stumps in a solid display.

All the SC bowlers kept the pressure on, with Chris Hogan (3 for 8 off five overs) leading the way. Nick O’Brien (2 for 9 from nine) overs was also economic.

Liam Cosgrove, Matthew McKenzie, James Hawkey each picked up a wicket. Michael Lees took one wicket in his five-over spell and conceded no run.

Only one batsman from North Otago, D Mahuka, reached double figures, scoring 10 runs.

Despite the loss of an early wicket, South Canterbury reached the target in 26 overs.
Newly promoted opening batsman Brett Walker scored a well-compiled 32 not out and, along with Patrick Simpson, on 20 not out, ensured there were no hiccups in South Canterbury’s run chase.

A South Canterbury XI made up of players from years four to seven took on an equivalent team from North Otago in a game that went down to the wire.

Batting first, North Otago was dismissed for 130. Connor Bradley (3-19) and Ben Aicken (3-12) were the main destroyers.

South Canterbury started their run chase confidently, scoring at a good rate but consistently lost wickets. At 67 for 6 the South Canterbury innings looked shaky but a 51-run partnership between Cullen Grace (23) and Mark Ottley (13) set the game up for an exciting finish.

With just one over left, South Canterbury needed five runs. They held their nerve to win the game with two balls to spare.

All three JAB teams will be in action on Sunday against Christchurch Metro with the games being played at the Geraldine Domain.

In previous years these games have usually gone Christchurch’s way but with some emerging talent South Canterbury will be looking for upsets against their fancied opposition.

The Mark Parker Memorial Trophy was played between holders Dunedin Metro and a South Canterbury Invitation side in beautiful sunny conditions on a good wicket at the Rectory and was a fitting tribute to Mark’s memory.

The South Canterbury side featured several players who have been the recipients of the Mark Parker Memorial Trust Scholarship which sends them to Winchester College in England for a season, and all of these players made good contributions in this game too. Bill Walsh scored 59, Jeremy Lane took the first wicket and took a great catch that only he could have stretched to, and the latest recipient, Tom Walsh, took two wickets and was unbeaten on 24 when play finished.

Dunedin set the tone for the day by sending up a strong team including development players and some with first class experience, and after batting first it didn’t take long for them to get the score moving. They were 46 when Lane grabbed the first wicket, but had quickly added a further 60 runs before Tom Walsh made the next breakthrough removing King for 22 and soon after opener Glenn for 74.

Todd Elliotte picked up the next two wickets to fall and Jordy Morrow the sixth and seventh wickets, but no one could remove Sean Eathorne who marched majestically on to finish 138 not out. It was a classy innings with shots all round the wicket and great placement into the gaps. He never looked troubled, and in an innings that included 4 sixes and 17 fours off only 98 balls, none of the numerous spectators would recall any slogging or non-cricket shots.

His team mates supported him by feeding him the strike and eventually Dunedin finished at 310-7 off their fifty overs, a very imposing total. South Canterbury used eight different bowlers from their bowler heavy side and while Craig Hinton was miserly in his opening spell and only conceded nine runs, most of the others had mixed success, taking wickets but also receiving punishment.

With a hard track and fast outfield, South Canterbury hoped to make Dunedin also find out the difficulties of fielding and controlling the scoring rate with small boundaries and Tom Bouch from Winchester College started well. Unfortunately Bouch was out for 22 just as he was getting going and then when Grant Brookland was caught behind the stumps for five, the story of the day began to unfold.

Facing bowlers who were generally quicker than in the local competition lead to Dunedin keeper Mark Bracewell picking up four catches as players played and missed or edged deliveries. Liam Crowley was next out for 23 and then the in-form Matt Mealings joined a patient Bill Walsh who was enjoying playing back at his old home ground. Together they added 82 runs which helped South Canterbury back into the game, although the run rate required was always climbing.

The wicket of Mealings for 31 with the score at 157 brought about the double collapse as Bill Walsh was caught on the boundary for 59 trying to repeat the six that brought up his half century earlier. Walsh’s innings showed he is certainly up to the standard of the players on show, and was a typically patient batting display.

Next batsman, Tom Lewis, a student from Winchester College here on the cricketing exchange, was batting under an injury cloud and didn’t get to show his true class, and started the slide as the tail-enders came and went, trying to score quickly to keep South Canterbury in the game and to at least go down fighting. Tom Walsh batted well at the other end, but in the end after a good fielding and bowling display by Dunedin Metro, South Canterbury were dismissed for 203, 107 runs short of their target.

It is now hoped that the Mark Parker Memorial Trophy match can be returned to the regular calendar as it is a great opportunity for young and up and coming players to test their skills alongside sometimes older, and often more experienced players from both districts, and as it is a match played in tribute to Mark’s life, it is played in the best of spirits with both teams obviously enjoying ‘the cricket’.

Scoresheet

Star supporters had visions of last season’s last minute demise as their team stuttered and gasped in their chase for first innings points and the right to play top qualifiers Geraldine in the final of the Tweedy Cup next weekend. Zane Sanders was doing his best for Timaru with a career best 7-71, but in the end Craig Hinton became the toast of the Star clubrooms as he lofted Sanders to cow corner for a four and the next ball for two runs to a similar position and Star gained the first innings points needed with two wickets still in hand.

The season draw played at perfectly with this match effectively becoming a semi-final. Captains and scorers changed hats to become mathematicians as the various possible outcomes were calculated and recalculated almost by the over. Needing 220 for a first innings win, Star were cruising at 142-2 after Paul Arkinstall (68) had added 99 runs for the second wicket with his captain Phil McGregor. McGregor who was playing the anchor role for his team continued on to make 43 and was the sixth wicket to fall, but the Star middle order let Sanders get on top as they slipped to be 162-6.

Old hands Todd Elliotte and Julian Blanchard then steadied the ship somewhat before Blanchard was out stumped with the score at 175 and 45 runs still required. Calculations at this stage showed that if Timaru did win on the first innings and taking the bonus points into consideration that at the end of the first innings, Timaru would now have a lead of 0.72 points and all second innings runs and wickets would be changing every time a run was scored or a wicket fell.

Paul Brohan joined Elliotte and between them had moved the score to 194-7 at tea with Elliotte 29 not out and Brohan 2 not out. Tea also allowed the fielding side to catch up on all the possible outcomes, but as so often happens with a break in an innings, Elliotte was caught out by a great catch to Grant Brookland in the covers shortly after tea with no addition to his score. 203-8 meant a further 17 runs were still required when Craig Hinton joined Brohan in the middle, while Timaru only needed two wickets.

Hinton has already been in this situation this season, almost seeing South Canterbury through to an upset win over Canterbury Country, but this time it was Brohan who also showed courage under fire as his innings grew, eventually making an invaluable 25, and importantly he was still there when Hinton hit the runs that gave Star first innings points and a lead of 11 points over Timaru, which basically meant the rest of the game was played out to satisfy rules requirements.

An exciting, edge of your seat match had a couple of incidents that took some of the pleasure out of the match. This can be mainly attributed to the lack of official umpires, and as a result, as the tension mounted, the player-umpires came under further scrutiny. Unfortunately, depending on which team one supported often meant how decisions, or non decisions were viewed, and comments passed on and off the field did nothing to improve the situation.

In the other two matches, after being 49-7 overnight Waimate put up a second innings fight to go on and score 178 after Todd Bailey scored his maiden senior fifty and Jason Sew Hoy finished off a great season by passing 500 runs on his way to 79 not out. Geraldine lost two wickets on their way to the 42 runs required, but was a deserving winner after their efforts on day one, and will be hoping all their players are available and back from University for next weekend’s final.

Celtic and Temuka played out their last match of the season on a much improved Rockdale Rd pitch this week, and with Celtic team funds (fines) doubled for the last day soon had them boosted after James Laming scored 59 and Matt Mealings 66, while Luke Taylor made the most of his new role as captain and lead the way scoring an unbeaten 89 before selflessly declaring in sight of his century and leaving Temuka an imposing 330 runs to win.

Helped by 70 runs to Ritchie Preston, Temuka put up a better showing second time around, but were eventually all out for 159 after James Laming capped off a good day at the office with 4 wickets while Sam Carlaw with 3 and Willy Scott 2 helped him out giving outright victory to Celtic.

Scoreboards

10 wickets for the day including a hat-trick for Chris Esh alongside a powerful 95 by Hamish Drennan has taken Geraldine to the top of the table with one day’s play left to find the finalists in the Tweedy Cup.

At the start of the day Star appeared safe in top spot five points clear of Timaru and seven points ahead of Geraldine, but with Esh routing Waimate in Geraldine, and his team likely to pick up outright points with Waimate already 49-7 in their second innings, the match between Star and Timaru at Ashbury Park has taken on plenty of new meaning as well as throwing up a complex web of possible outcomes.

Unofficially after Day One, Geraldine has 54.89 points (with at least 10 more likely), Star has moved on to 51.89 points and Timaru to 45.59, still 6.3 points behind. A first innings win is worth 6 points but even if Timaru achieve this, they need to do so quickly before Star gain too many more batting points. Star’s safest path to the final is to win on the first innings which would assure them of a spot, albeit as second qualifiers behind Geraldine. With memories of last season’s last round demise still ringing around the clubrooms, batting practice will be at a premium in the Star nets this week.

On a slow day where some spectators struggled to stay awake, Timaru batted for 82 overs for their 219 after being put in by Star. This has turned the match into a first innings affair, a decision which may now come back to haunt Timaru unless they do dismiss Star very cheaply next week to secure first innings points and at the same time gain better bonus points than Star. This will not be easy with Star already 47-1 in reply.

For Timaru, Gerald Piddock followed up his pre-match thoughts that “today was his day” top scoring with 72 while earlier Scott Johnson scored 50 after being called in to open the batting before rushing off to Dunedin. Hitesh Angrish was also called in at late notice and scored 33, but it is a sad blight on cricket when a senior team can only field 10 players in a match where they could still be a competition finalist (they would have had 11 if the correspondent had taken up an offer to bat!).

Mark Evans with 3-27 and Tim Butler (2-19) were the pick of the Star bowlers while the hard working Hamish Dickson and Todd Elliotte both snaffled two wickets from 18 and 23 over spells respectively.

In Geraldine, after Waimate succumbed for 72 in their first innings to Chris Esh with his outstanding return of 6-12 including the hat-trick, Geraldine also struggled early on and were 53-5 before Drennan with 95 and the in form Regan Tate with 68 joined forces to add 153 runs for the sixth wicket, and take Geraldine well away from any danger. Alan Reid was again the best of the Waimate bowlers with 4-41, while Jason Sew Hoy took two wickets after relinquishing his keeper’s role in preparation for next season.

Waimate are faring no better in their second innings as Drennan with 3-7 took out the top order and Esh with a relatively expensive 4-24 has continued on from the first innings, and unless it rains it will take a Herculean effort for Waimate to save the match.

At Rockdale Rd the slow outfield and lack of preparation meant that like elsewhere, the pitch had become a minefield with inconsistent bounce leading to the most player umpire lbw decisions given all season. While batsmen had to make themselves get forward to every delivery, this didn’t always save them either, and to make matters worse, boundaries were at a premium, and unless the ball cleared it on the full, generally batsmen had to run to score.

Temuka who still had a chance to make the final as they did last season where they came from 5th to first in the last round, also disappointingly could only field 9 players. Despite this Temuka held the early upper hand with Celtic 57-5 at one stage as Kevin Teahen and Michael Geddis dominated with the ball, until Matt Mealings (28), Fred Morgan (45) and Ryan de Joux with 27 built partnerships to help Celtic to a respectable 182. Teahen finished with four wickets and Geddis three, while fill-in and South Canterbury selector Shane Gilkison made the most of his bowling opportunity to take 1-6, but by then the horse had bolted.

Temuka started well with openers Tristan Johnston and Richard Opie adding 53 in quick time for the first wicket, before Opie was out caught for 30, probably still thinking about the prize he had won for a six over mid wicket! Johnston continued on to be fourth out after scoring 40, but by now Sam Carlaw and Matt Mealings had settled on to the right length to bowl as they picked up four wickets each and Temuka were dismissed for 103 in 36 overs.

Batting a second time, Celtic is 64-2, with Matt Mealings 26 not out and leading the way in his new capacity as an all rounder. Celtic’s lead of 143 should give them a good chance to gain outright points, but this will be too little too late for Celtic as decisions made earlier in the season have thwarted their final aspirations.

Score Boards

THE loss of play on the first day of the penultimate round of senior cricket meant matches were played under new rules on the second day, with teams chasing first innings and bonus points only.

These rules were put in place to stop teams manipulating the controls, as has happened before, with captains contriving situations by agreeing to early declarations and then playing the second innings, with the winner gaining the opportunity of picking up an outright result in the second innings and the extra points available.

As it turned out, only Star were able to get a first innings result this round after cleaning Temuka out for 59 and then reaching their target for the loss of only 4 wickets, while in Waimate the home side and Celtic never made it onto the park and the Timaru vs Geraldine match was also a draw after play was finally abandoned at 5.50pm.

Temuka batted first and were soon in deep trouble as Craig Hinton and Jeremy Lane bowled tightly to have Temuka 22-5 before Adrian Cunningham found someone willing to hang around with him. Cunningham batted for more than two hours for his 15 runs, and what was a ‘breezy’ 27 in the conditions by Richard Opie was the only other innings in double figures.

Hinton bowled unchanged to take 4-16 off 16 overs while Lane grabbed 3 wickets as did Hamish Dickson who cleaned up the tail impressively to take 3-6.

With Star hoping to take advantage of Temuka’s demise and consolidate their position at the top of the table, they needed to score the runs required before the rain became too heavy and the match abandoned. Rain was falling by the time they were 25-2, but Tom Bouch who opened and top scored with 25 almost saw Star home before they finally won on the first innings in their 14th over.

At Ashbury Park, Geraldine won the toss and batted first against. Even allowing for the wet outfield, scoring was slow and many batsmen didn’t run as well as they might have after expecting good shots to go all the way to the boundary, and suddenly having them pull up.

Ben Millar got things under way with 24 and Matt Barnes returned to form with 63 before being caught and bowled by wily old campaigner Chris Leonard who now thinks Barnes is his ‘bunny’ after dismissing him twice this season! (Shame about the runs conceded first). Most of the other Geraldine batsmen got starts and Chris Esh 10 not out and young Harry Millar 12 not out were looking to improve their averages when rain eventually stopped play after 53 overs with Geraldine 161-7.

Hayden Leonard got through 18 overs and took two wickets while Chris Leonard capped off a good day with a caught and bowled to take his ‘bag’ from only seven overs. Robbie Rankin finally had an lbw answered affirmatively and Kris Howes was the other successful bowler.

Timaru were obviously keen to continue, while it suited Geraldine to stop, but eventually captains agreed and play was abandoned for the day with Timaru and Geraldine both accumulating almost identical points from the match.

With the final round starting next weekend, theoretically every team still has a chance of making the final although Waimate, Celtic and Temuka would need to score maximum points and want Timaru and Geraldine who are close behind competition leaders Star to score none. Waimate are to play Geraldine and could help or hinder their progress to the final, while the local derby between Star and Timaru will like last season be the crucial match of the round and could yet be a precursor to the final if Timaru can gain first innings points, or possibly an outright.

 Score Sheets