South Canterbury cricket captain Todd Elliotte will be elevated to an elite group of players when he notches up 100 games for his province against North Otago tomorrow.

Only three other players have became centurions for South Canterbury Cricket, with Barrie Andrews leading the list with 127 games. John Varcoe played 109, while former test player John Ward was the first to break the magic mark and he went on to play 127 games.

Off-spinner Elliotte has already etched his name into the record books when eclipsing Phil d’Auvergne as South Canterbury cricket’s highest wicket-taker in 2007. The 35-year-old has since lifted his tally to 286, but is unlikely to break the magical 300 mark as he is set to retire from representative cricket at the end of the season, to concentrate on his young family.

Elliotte joined the South Canterbury team as a fresh-faced 17-year-old out of Timaru Boys’ High School along with Mark Parker and former Black Caps opener Craig Cumming.

Since then, apart from a year teaching English in Korea and a brief stint in Christchurch, Elliotte has been a stalwart of the South Canterbury side, captaining them for almost the past decade.

The off-spinner’s best effort was grabbing 11 wickets against Mid Canterbury, and over his 18 seasons of playing for South Canterbury has several 10 wicket bags.

The accurate off spinner has however never managed to grab a hat-trick.

Elliotte has loved his time playing representative cricket but said family needed to come first. He has, however, set up a wicket in his backyard for his three-year-old son Harry, with nine-month-old Max a keen spectator.

Elliotte has not only been successful with the ball, he has also proved handy with the bat, with a top score of 123 against Canterbury Country.

His highlight was the 2000 season which culminated in South Canterbury hoisting the Hawke Cup.

Elliotte said he had always enjoyed cricket because of the people he played with. “The best move was when I pulled the pin in Christchurch, I’ve just loved playing for South Canterbury.

“There have been some tremendous games and I just loved being part of them.”

South Canterbury coach Richard Davidson said it was a tremendous milestone for the skipper. “Todd really deserves it, he is highly respected by his peers and his opponents and he stuck with South Canterbury rather move away, which is a credit to him.

“Batsmen knew they were in for a battle when they faced him.”

The talented allrounder will not be lost to cricket completely choosing to continue playing for his club, Star.

“I owe it to them because of the support they have shown to me.”

South Canterbury will need to beat North Otago outright in Oamaru to have any chance of challenging for the Hawke Cup.

Although most cricket was cancelled this weekend, Celtic will be pleased with the Temuka attitude after both captains agreed that cricket was the priority. The outfield was mowed again to help speed up the drying process and the match got under way about 3.30 with Temuka in deep trouble at 35-5 in their second innings.

It only took Celtic about an hour to dismiss Temuka for a second time, with Glenn Matthews picking up the one more wicket he needed to claim a five wicket bag while Sam Carlaw added two more to take his haul to three.

For Temuka Kevin Teahen who was not out 7 overnight took his score through to 18 and captain Ritchie Preston remained unbeaten on 24 when the Temuka innings finished at 83 to give Celtic outright victory by an innings and 90 runs.

The Waimate versus Star match was abandoned due to dangerous bowler runups about 4.00 and the match between Geraldine and Timaru also had no play.

Celtic on 36 points is now 99% assured of a place in the final of the Tweedy Cup, but Temuka’s sportsmanship in playing has seen them also profit. The 0.83 batting bonus points they earned in their second innings has helped them to leapfrog Star and Waimate into second place as the battle continues to find the other finalist with two rounds left to play.

The next three weekends see the last three rounds and finals of the Twenty20 competition, while the senior representative players have Hawke Cup matches away against North Otago next weekend and at home against Otago Country the following weekend.

Honours Board:  G Matthews 5-40

Scoreboard

Consecutive centuries by Celtic’s Craig Davies have seen him add another record to his name in a cricket career that is still blooming. At only 22 years of age he has now scored eleven senior centuries for Celtic to take him one ahead of club legend Bruce Carlaw and two ahead of his captain Dan Laming who has spent the whole season stuck on nine. Davies also holds the highest individual score for South Canterbury at senior representative level and one can only imagine the lofty targets he will set with many years ahead of him at this level.

Davies 134 helped Celtic into position to win outright early into the second day next week, and only the weather or a remarkable batting effort by the Temuka tail order will stop them.

Temuka won the toss and elected to bat, but Dan Laming with 5-41 quickly knocked over the top order. After at one stage being 32-7, Michael Geddis with 30 and Kevin Teahen (17) helped Temuka to some respectability at 82 all out. Glenn Matthews and Sam Carlaw joined in on the act to finish with 2 wickets each as well.

It took a while for Davies to find a solid partner as Celtic passed the Temuka total four wickets down, but then James Laming came in and quickly got the recent hoodoo’s off his back (ducks) as he and Davies added 134 runs for the fifth wicket before Davies was out. Celtic batted on until their 44th over before declaring at 255-7 after Laming was out for a fine 65 and a welcome return to form.

Temuka opening bowler Dillon Lees will have a bittersweet taste in his mouth after his best senior performance with the ball taking 6-73, especially good figures against a powerful Celtic batting line-up, but his team’s batting performance may temper any celebrations.

Temuka had 18 overs left to face in the day’s play and began wanting to erase the memory of their first innings but it was not to be as this time left arm quick Glenn Matthews tore through the top order with 4-22 and when stumps was called Temuka were again in deep trouble at 39-5.

Star, playing at Mountain View High School, the site of their new home grounds next season, lost the toss to Waimate and were asked to bat first on what appeared to be a good wicket with some seam movement early on and a lightning outfield.

They began well adding 42 for the first wicket when young opener Simon Ward was out for 10, but fellow opener and captain Phil McGregor relished the opportunity to bat in his proper position and on his home ground where he works and plays adding 55 with Alexander McKenzie for the fourth wicket before uncharacteristically holing out to long on for a comparatively quick 65.

McKenzie was just getting into his stride when a calling mix up led to the inevitable run out four short of his half century. The Star batsmen continued to push for more runs before the compulsory declaration and were eventually dismissed in the fiftieth over for 184. Waimate’s fielding kept them in the game with two run outs and eight catches and Matt Devlin came away with the best bowling figures taking 4-39.

Unfortunately for Waimate the chase for first innings points did not begin well as Jeremy Lane celebrated his 21st birthday milestone by quickly removing three of the top four batsmen and no doubt will be looking for more wickets next week to add to his 3-29.

Waimate eventually recovered from 6-3 after captain Jason Sew Hoy with 48 (and cramp) got them back into the match. At stumps Waimate were 110-7 with Craig Booth not out 19 and they will probably go on full attack for the remaining ten overs of their innings next week. If successful they may earn 1st innings points, but it is more likely to be Star and they will then need to work out a suitable declaration in order to look for an outright result to keep them near the top of the table.

In Geraldine the match is evenly poised after Timaru won the toss and were dismissed for 143 with captain Grant Brookland continuing his good season with 47, although he probably feels aggrieved that the outfield had not been mown and that some shots did not earn their full worth, else he (and Ben Millar for Geraldine) may have had fifty to his name. Phil Lill’s off-spin with 4-38 and Guy Metcalf with 3-26 were the chief destroyers with the ball.

Geraldine tried a new opening pair with the Millar brothers, but it didn’t work for Harry who didn’t score, but Ben went on to make 43, easily the top score in this match so far for his team. Guy Metcalf capped off a good all round performance with 27, but with 5 overs to play in their first innings, Geraldine need 15 more runs and Timaru 3 more wickets to gain first innings points. Geraldine has two former openers at the wicket with Gary Muff 21 not out and Tom McKnight 3 not out and with a week to mow the grass anything could happen in this evenly poised encounter.

Honours Board:
C Davies 134
D Lees 6-73
J Laming 65
P McGregor 65
D Laming 5-41

Score Boards

South Canterbury wrapped up the week with a draw at the South Island Primary Schools Tournament.

It was an actio-packed day at Alexandra when Buller won the toss to put SC in to bat on an artificial turf after changeable weather hampered playing conditions.

After Thursday’s disappointment, SC batted well, with newly promoted opener Henry Morley-Hall giving a stunning performance of 50 not out.

Patrick Simpson starred with an impressive 47 while Liam Cosgrove and Jack Woodley were a useful combination with 17 and 18 respectively.

It enabled SC to declare at 156 -4 from 43 overs.

Buller replied and finished with 150-7. It was a tight finish as they required eight runs off the last over but South Canterbury denied Buller the satisfaction.

Taking wickets for SC, James Hawkey swept up 3-19 while Alastair Harvey held Buller with 1-11 off seven overs. Leg spinner Conor Scott took 1-25 and Nick O’Brien 1-31.

The game ended in a draw as SC needed to bowl Buller out to secure a win.

South Canterbury were placed 6th from 14 teams at the tournament.

SC will next play in the Southern Districts U14 tournament at the end of January.  Selected to play are: Patrick Simpson, Brett Walker, Henry Morley-Hall, Liam Cosgrove, Jack Woodley, Conor Scott, Matt McKenzie, Michael Lees, Chris Hogan, Nick O’Brien and Alastair Harvey.

South Canterbury has suffered its first defeat at the South Island Primary Schools cricket tournament, as they go into the final day of competition today.

Winning the toss yesterday, SC put Dunedin Metro in to bat in the match in Alexandra. Rain saw the match start time delayed by two hours.

Dunedin Metro was all out for 136 with the last five wickets falling for six runs.

Team coach-manager John Threlkeld said there was some very good bowling and fielding from South Canterbury, with Nic O’Brien taking 3-21, Chris Hogan 2-1 off four overs and Michael Lees 2-10 off five overs.

While it appeared an achievable target, the damp wicket was not easy to bat on, Mr Threlkeld said.

SC was looking good at 95-4 but then went on to be all out for 105 with Patrick Simpson making 48 and Brett Walker 23.

While SC is now unlikely to win the tournament, it is possible they could still finish in the top four or five places.

In their final game of the tournament today, SC will play Buller at Dunstan High School in Alexandra.

A draw against Canterbury Country was enough to push South Canterbury in to the top spot at the South Island Primary Schools Cricket tournament.

In the third game of the tournament, Canterbury Country batted first, declaring at 195 for 4.

South Canterbury coach-manager John Threlkeld said it looked like it was going to be a big job for his team when they were three for nine runs.

Jack Woodley batted for two hours to achieve his seven runs.

Liam Cosgrove managed three runs over 75 minutes, while Patrick Simpson got his three in 58 minutes. Matt McKenzie notched up five in 49 minutes while Conor Scott defended for 53 minutes without scoring.

Eleventh man Chris Hogan was not out, for the team to finish on 62 for 9.

The draw meant South Canterbury was leading the competition by one point from Canterbury Country last night.

South Canterbury will play Dunedin Metro at Molyneux Park in Alexandra today. The tournament ends tomorrow.

A great crowd, entertaining match and a fun occasion for all when the Canterbury Wizards played the Central Stags at Aorangi Oval in Timaru on January 13th. Below you can see some photos taken during the match and more will be added as they become available.

Thanks to Hayden Leonard for the first couple of great shots. The umpires could have called on him for verification of the Peter Fulton run out.

[View with PicLens]

South Canterbury made it two out of two with a second win at the South Island Primary Schools Cricket tournament yesterday.

Playing Southland Country in Wanaka, South Canterbury won the toss and decided to put Southland Country in to bat. Southland Country were dismissed for 44 off 29 overs, with South Canterbury bowlers Nicholas Lees taking three for 11, Nic O’Brien two for eight, Conor Scott two for nine and Liam Cosgrove two for 12.

South Canterbury declared at 116 for five with opener Brett Walker being 56 not out.

James Hawkey added 20 to South Canterbury’s score.

In its second innings Southland Country were all out for 97, with Alastair Harvey taking two for 19, Scott three for 28 and Chris Hogan, Cosgrove, O’Brien, Lees and Walker taking a wicket each.

South Canterbury needed 26 runs to score an outright win, and managed that for three wickets.

Team manager-coach John Threlkeld said the result was a very good team effort with the boys having fielded and caught well.

They can expect a harder game today when they face Canterbury Country.

Today’s game is due to be played at Molyneux Park in Alexandra.

The tournament runs until Friday.

Big names and big scores are on the cards when the Canterbury Wizards take on the Central Districts Stags in a domestic Twenty20 cricket match at Aorangi Oval tonight.

Following the 781 runs that were scored at the ground in a record breaking one-day game between Canterbury and Otago, another run-feast is likely, especially with big hitters Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Shannan Stewart playing.

The game will be missing one of the competition’s big drawcards, with former Black Cap Craig McMillan still recovering from a calf strain which has kept him on the sidelines for several games this season.

Timaru’s Hamish Bennett is likely to miss out on selection to play on his home ground for the Wizards, having been on the outer of the limited-overs squad.

Bennett said it was disappointing not to be playing regularly in limited-overs games, but he was trying to take the positives from it.

“When you have guys like Chris (Martin) and I think Shane Bond is coming back in February, it can be hard to get a spot, but I’m just trying to learn from those guys when they are around.”

McMillan said the injury was healing and he was targeting a return against CD in Nelson on Friday.

“Absolutely, it’s tough (to be on the sidelines) especially when the team’s struggling,” he said. “I do enjoy watching the guys play, but it’s frustrating when you can’t add to things on the field.

“One of the reasons I came back was because I still felt I had something to offer the team.”

The 33-year-old, who retired from international cricket in 2007, said he was disappointed to miss both games in Timaru this season, especially on such a batsman-friendly pitch.

Aorangi Oval groundsman Greg Hull said Timaru’s recent 0 wet weather had made pitch preparations “very difficult”.

“It has been hard, we haven’t had a fine since Friday.”

He said since the pitch had been under the covers for a long period, it had started to sweat.

Hull said he hoped the sunny weather yesterday would remove most of the moisture in and around the pitch and he was confident it would perform the same way it did on New Year’s Eve.

“There will still be a bit of grass on it, but hopefully we can brown that off. There was grass on it for the last game, but the ball didn’t move around much.”

The Wizards return to Timaru in desperate need of a win as they languish at the bottom of the Twenty20 table, having won only their opening game against the Auckland Aces

The Stags on the other hand are at the top of the ladder, having won three of their four games, suffering their first loss against the Aces in the previous round.

McMillan said confidence in the red and black camp was still high. “A few of the guys are looking forward to getting back there, they know what to expect and hopefully we can find form.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position where we are going to have to win our next six games which is a tough ask, but it can bring out the best in you.”

McMillan said Central Districts’ long batting line-up was something they had to be wary of.

“They bat long in to their order and with guys like (Jacob) Oram, (Ross) Taylor and (Graeme) Napier, they can take the game away from you.”

South Canterbury teenager Jamie Trezise will be the Wizards’ 13th man for tonight’s match.

The game starts at 5pm.

Twenty20 cricket may last only three hours, but for one South Canterbury teenager it promises to be three hours he will never forget.

Jamie Trezise has been chosen to be the Canterbury Wizards’ 13th man for their domestic Twenty20 match against Central Districts at Aorangi Oval tomorrow night.

The 13-year-old said he was “amazed” to be chosen.

“Out of all the people they could have picked, they chose me.”

The talented wicket-keeper and batsman said he was looking forward to meeting Black Caps fast-bowler Chris Martin the most.

“He’s a pretty good bowler.”

Trezise has played cricket for two years, and plays A grade for Celtic in the local competition.

He said he was looking forward to seeing the game after missing the one-dayer between Canterbury and Otago held at the ground on New Year’s Eve.

He was keen to see the unpredictable nature of cricket’s shortest form up close, he said.

His favourite player is Black Caps wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum.

South Canterbury Cricket Association administration officer Graeme Broker said it was an excellent opportunity for Trezise and one he deserved.

“It’s a great chance for a young cricketer to experience what domestic cricket is like, and we are thankful to have been given the opportunity to nominate someone.”

Broker said Trezise would sit with the Canterbury Wizards squad, help out with 12th man duties, such as the drinks break, and get to keep the Canterbury Wizards playing shirt he will be given to wear. Trezise is planning to play for a Timaru Boys’ High School when he starts at the school this year, which will see him play two games of cricket on Saturdays during summer.