After a delayed start because of rain early in the day Southland won the toss and sent South Canterbury in on a wicket with tinge more green to it than usual at Queens Park and Southland immediately made inroads.

Veteran Ronnie Kotcamp bowled a fiery first spell and found back-up in the form of young left-armer Hamish Cooke to have South Canterbury reeling at five for 23 at one stage.

Tahir Afridi 69 not out for South Canterbury

However in Tahir Afridi South Canterbury found a much needed shot maker as his unbeaten 69 from 117 balls as he saved his team from complete embarrassment and give his team’s bowers something to bowl at as they got through to 123.

South Canterbury made immediate inroads into the Southland batting lineup as Simon Wadworth, Hamish O’Brien, Geoff Folster and Hamish Skelt all went relatively cheaply.

Opening batsman and skipper Jason Domigan however rode his luck somewhat and showed some fight for his team finishing the day’s play unbeaten on 32.

At the other end was Callum Johnstone who was not out 11 while also showing plenty of determination and looking comfortable in his debut game for Southland at Hawke Cup level.

Southland finished the day 81 for four still with some work to do for first innings points but certainly in the better position.

Play will start at 10am on Sunday morning.

South Canterbury 123 all out (Tahir Afridi 69*, Zane Sanders 20; Ronnie Kotcamp 19-9-32-5, Hamish Cooke 13.2-5-32-3, Callum Johnstone 6-2-10-1, Jason Domigan 5-3-9-1), Southland 81 for four (Jason Domigan 32*)

At least five front-line players will attend the wedding of former South Canterbury player Ryan de Joux this weekend and coach Bruce Carlaw and assistant coach Robin Beeby have also chosen to be there, leaving team manager John Davies as caretaker coach.

First choice players Craig Davies, Dan Laming, Glenn Matthews, Jeremy Liddy and Sam Carlaw will attend the wedding, while Beeby is in the official wedding party and Bruce Carlaw is “good mates” with De Joux.

Bruce Carlaw said he had “tremendously mixed feelings” about the decision, but he had faith in the abilities of John Davies to step in.

“He [Davies] has been with the team from the start and I’m sure he will do a great job.”

South Canterbury Cricket executive officer David Fisher said having both coaches away “was not ideal but unavoidable”.

Zane Sanders will be on debut

Southland have won both of their Hawke Cup matches this season outright and a win over South Canterbury would all but assure them of top spot in the southern zone and a cup challenge.

South Canterbury will likely have two players on debut with Timaru’s left-arm spinner Zane Sanders and Indian-born batsman Dhananjaya Murari making the 12-man squad.

Bruce Carlaw said Murari was not considered an import player – only one is allowed under Hawke Cup rules – due to his long-standing work commitments.

Temuka’s Dylan Lees has earned a recall for his first Hawke Cup game after he played a pre-season one-day match.

Christchurch-based Ben McCord is unavailable, while Roncalli opening bowler Daniel Dorgan has been dropped.

Left-arm fast bowler Tahir Afridi has won the import spot over team-mate Ed Kilbee.

Bruce Carlaw said Kilbee had made himself unavailable for selection due to family commitments and he was “unsure” who he would have chosen if both Afridi, who is the leading wicket-taker and Kilbee, who is the top run-scorer, were available.

Afridi will be assisted with the seam bowling duties by Craig Hinton, who returns after missing the 10-wicket win over North Otago in round one, along with Temuka stalwart Kevin Teahen.

Dan Murari

The young Celtic duo of Willie Wright and Jacob Naylor have earned recalls to cover for their absent clubmates. Bruce Carlaw said Wright would take the wicket-keeping duties from captain Richie Preston, who will be promoted to open the batting with Bill Walsh.

Carlaw said a first innings result was needed, and he was delighted with the hunger shown by the squad at training.

“Like I told the guys [on Wednesday] night, I’ve been really impressed by their commitment and determination at trainings and their willingness to improve.

“It has been a return to the old days of playing for pride.

“There is no doubt that getting a first innings result is important.”We feel we have the firepower in the bowling to get the job done and hopefully we’ll be able to get the runs we need with the bat.”

Bruce Carlaw said a decision on the playing XI would be made once they saw the pitch.

The squad is: Richie Preston ©, Bill Walsh, Dhananjaya Murari, Jacob Naylor, Mark Tutton, Willie Wright (wk), Tahir Afridi, Dylan Lees, Craig Hinton, Kevin Teahen, Ben Watson, Zane Sanders

• Feb 13th trials for year 7and 8 from 6pm-8pm
• Feb 14th trials for year 5 and 6 from 6pm-8pm

Please contact the office (686 3377) if you have any questions

Tournament Team

Back: Ants de Joux (Coach), Charlie Martin, Ben Thomson, Hamish Stowell, William Sharp, Harrison Darling, James Arscott Front: William Johnson, Ben Davenport, Gabriel Evans (Capt), Edward Heenan, Ben Stayt, Ted Grigg

Game One: South Canterbury vs Christchurch Metro Astle

Away to a flying start

The South Canterbury year five and six cricket team had a 45-run win against Christchurch Metro Astle in their opening match of the Canterbury Districts tournament.

South Canterbury took advantage of  good batting conditions to post 180-8 from their 40 overs before they restricted the opposition to 135-8 in reply.

Gabriel Evans top-scored for South Canterbury making 50 retired, while William Sharp made 34 and Ted Grigg added 34 not out.

South Canterbury strangled the Christchurch Metro run-rate early, with just 20 runs conceded from the first 10 overs. Ben Thomson was the pick of the bowlers with 2-13.

Coach Ants  de Joux said his team had a solid match with four run outs adding to the cause.

Game Two: South Canterbury vs Christchurch Metro Fleming

SC make it two from two

The South Canterbury year five and six team made it two wins from two at their Canterbury Districts tournament, with a 21 run win over Christchurch Metro Fleming .

A half century from captain Gabriel Evans helped South Canterbury to 187 all out from the final ball of their 40 overs.

They then redtricted Christchurch Metro Fleming to  166-7 in reply.

Evans made 54 and shared in an 80 run second wicket partnership with Edward Heenan (20).

The middle part of the innings was controlled by William Sharp’s 34, as he combined with Ted Grigg (18) as they posted a half century stand for the fifth wicket.

South Canterbury coach Ants de Joux said his team did well to turn twos into threes and rotate the strike with aggressive running on the large ground.

The bowling effort was spear-headed by Lawrence Darling who took 3-26. The bowlers were well supported in the field.

Ben Thomson created a direct hit run out to take the first wicket and then he produced a diving catch in the covers next ball.

Game Three: South Canterbury vs Canterbury Country South

Side score third win

Gabriel Evans produced another excellent all-round display to lead the South Canterbury year 5 and 6 cricket team to a 56 run win over Canterbury Country South.

In their third match of the Canterbury Districts tournament, South Canterbury were in early trouble at 20 – 3 before Evans (52 not out) and Ben Thomson put on 70 for the fourth wicket.

A series of cameos from Ted Grigg (13) and James Arscott (12) helped South Canterbury score 100 runs from their final 20 overs and finish up with 150.

The Canterbury Country South batsmen never looked likely to threaten the target. Despite having wickets in hand, they never lifted their run rate as they finished on 94-4 from their 40 overs. Evans took 1-13 from eight overs.

The win, while convincing, dropped South Canterbury to third overall in the competition, after they failed to bowl their opposition out, missing the chance to pick up extra competition points in the process.

With one match to play against an also undefeated Mid Canterbury side, a big win could put South Canterbury right back in the hunt to win the tournament.

Game Four: South Canterbury vs Mid Canterbury

South Canty unbeaten, but finish runners-up

The South Canterbury year 5 and 6 cricket team went undefeated through the Canterbury Districts tournament but will go home without their main goal of top spot.

They had to settle for runners-up behind Christchurch Metro Cairns despite a 31-run victory over Mid Canterbury in their final match yesterday.

South Canterbury batted first, as they did each match, and posted 143 all out, then restricted Mid Canterbury to 112 all out, in the 40-over match. For the second day in a row, South Canterbury were in early trouble at 20 for three.

Top batsman Gabriel Evans was removed for 0, but still finished with 156 runs from the four matches.

A 60-run partnership between Ed Heenan and Ben Thomson then steadied the innings.

The damage was done with the ball.

Leg-spinner James Arscott grabbed four for 13 from five overs, while Thomson took three for 13.

South Canterbury coach Ants de Joux said it had been the fielding that had set his team apart from their opposition.

He said batting first was a deliberate tactic to try to stay in control of each match.

“Kids don’t chase well.

“You can always reassess when you bat first.

“You can always have a go in the last 10 or 15 overs, which is what we have done most days.”

De Joux said while it was disappointing not to win the tournament, he felt his team could not have done any more to try to finish in the top spot.

The team finish their season having won 13 of their 14 games.

Game One – SC vs Otago Country

Otley’s bowling aids first round victory.

The South Canterbury primary school cricket team made a winning start to their South Island tournament in Invercargill yesterday.

South Canterbury managed a first-innings 14-run win over Otago Country, taking the final wicket they needed in the last over of play.

Opening bowler Mark Otley produced the defining spell of bowling in the match, taking five for 21 from 10 overs to lift South Canterbury to an unlikely first innings victory.

After losing the toss and being asked to bat, South Canterbury struggled to form partnerships and get big scores.

They eventually ended their innings on 151 for nine from 52 overs.

Scores of 27 from William Harvey and Shaun Rooney, and a timely 16 from Adam Hamel, at No9, made up the bulk of the scoring.

South Canterbury had to restrict Otago Country to less than three runs an over, and take wickets to have any chance of victory. Otley’s right-arm fast bowling did the trick.

South Canterbury coach Mike Otley said he was able to generate extra bounce, which the batsmen struggled to combat.

Despite the best effort’s of Otago Country opener Jack Turner, who made 58 with the bat to go with three for 19 with the ball, South Canterbury were not to be denied.

When Turner was dismissed near the end of the day’s play, in the 49th over, South Canterbury took their chance.

Mike Otley said his side “fielded the best they ever had done”, taking three terrific catches and supporting their bowlers to defend the small total.

“I’d say 151 was a rather average score, but everyone did their bit and it is great to get a win like this.”

He said it reversed the heavy defeat his side suffered at the hands of Otago Country six weeks ago,

South Canterbury will play Christchurch Red today.

Game Two – SC vs  Chch Metro Red

Big loss for primary school team

The South Canterbury primary school cricket team suffered a 98-run first-innings loss to Christchurch Red at their South Island tournament in Invercargill yesterday.

The bowlers stood up for South Canterbury as they made good use of winning the toss on a green-looking pitch, to dismiss Christchurch Red for 162 in 48 overs.

However, the top-order batsmen failed to capitalise on the strong position, as South Canterbury slumped to 28 for six in the 14th over.

South Canterbury coach Mike Otley decided to play for a draw, which made batting time – and not getting out – more important than runs.

With the run-chase effectively over, the middle and lower-order tried to hang on for a first-innings draw.

The last four partnerships survived 26 overs, but South Canterbury were eventually bowled out for 64, nine overs before the close of play.

The last man dismissed, James Copland, lasted 44 balls on zero before perishing, while Adam Hamel was left not out on zero from 41 balls.

Shaun Rooney managed five from 38 balls, and Rupert Tudehope lasted 63 balls for 11 runs.

Christchurch Red’s opening bowler, Ben Thompson, was the architect of the initial batting collapse.

He convincingly took the first three wickets to fall, on his way to five for 15 from 10 overs.

Earlier, the leg-spin of Copland had proved valuable as he took two for 22 from eight overs from South Canterbury.

Tudehope and Rooney also took two wickets to go with their determined batting.

Otley said there was no way to sugar-coat such a loss.

“It’s simple; our top-order just didn’t front-up today.”

South Canterbury will face home team Invercargill Metro today.

Full Scoreboard

Game Three – SC vs Invercargill Metro

Brosnahan South Canterbury’s ace

South Canterbury managed their second nail-biting victory at the South Island primary school cricket tournament, with a one-run first innings victory over Invercargill Metro in Invercargill yesterday.

Right-arm fast bowler Sam Brosnahan proved to be South Canterbury’s ace, as they tried to defend 137 all out. He was held back in the bowling by coach Mike Otley for one last attack on the Invercargill Metro tailenders, and the plan worked.

With six runs needed, Brosnahan was hit for a boundary, but then replied with a delivery which sent the bails flying to give South Canterbury an unlikely win.

He finished with three for 12 from four overs.

The result saw South Canterbury climb to fourth on the competition table out of 14 teams. The win, combined with their 14-run victory over Otago Country on the first day, made them two wins from three games at the tournament, with two matches still to be played.

Earlier with the bat, opener Sean Wills made 24, while William Harvey top-scored with 41.

However, a last wicket partnership between Bailey Dryden (13) and William Blackstock (8), which yield-ed 25 runs proved to be crucial for South Canterbury.

Burns Mills was the stand-out in the field for the visitors, as he took two catches at silly mid-on and one at slip to do his bit to restrict Invercargill Metro to 136.

South Canterbury now have West Coast in their sights today.

Otley said the tournament was being defined by tight bowling, which demanded a full and straight length to be attacking.

Game Four – SC vs West Coast

Youngsters cash in get-out-of-jail-free card

South Canterbury continued their run of nerve-racking victories in the South Island primary schools cricket tournament, with a four-run first-innings win over West Coast in Invercargill yesterday.

South Canterbury performed a great escape to keep up their winning momentum, as they defended a lacklustre total of 118 all out.

West Coast were cruising at 103 for four, before a combination of seam bowling from Mark Otley and Sam Brosnahan, coupled with the spin of Sean Wills, forced West Coast into a spectacular collapse.

“I think we used our get-out-of-jail-free card,” coach Mike Otley said.

This followed their 14-run win over Otago Country on Monday and one-run win on Wednesday over Invercargill Metro.

Wills opened the batting for South Canterbury and top-scored with 23.

“Our target at the start of the day was 150, so 118 was pretty light,” Otley said.

He said the batting had been hampered by poor shot selection, but the comeback had been great.

“When a team is [close to the target] and only four [wickets] down, you feel like you’re dead in the water.

“I don’t think we did much differently but all of a sudden we started to get wickets.”

Wills finished with figures of three for nine from his seven overs, while Mark Otley took three for 31 off 10 overs and Brosnahan two for 13 off seven overs.

South Canterbury lie fourth.

Full Scoreboard

 Game Five

Rain washed away any chance of play on the final day of the South Island Primary School’s cricket tournament in Invercargill on Friday 13th January.

South Canterbury finished fourth in the tournament, one point behind three teams who were first equal at the top of the table. South Canterbury coach Mike Otley said he was rapt with the outcome given the team had lost four of their five warm-up games.

Sean Wills, Shaun Rooney, Mark Otley, Sam Brosnahan, William Harvey and Bailey Dryden made Southern Districts squads to face Canterbury opposition on January 23, 24 and 25.

Tournament Team

Top Left: Shane Gilkison (Coach), Matt McKenzie, Josh Mehrtens, Caleb Grace, George Morgan, Alistair Harvey (C), William Carter. Front: Steve Phillips, Same Lane, Wyatt McAughtrie, Connor Bradley, Lawrence Darling, Chris Hogan.

Game One

South Canterbury vs Buller

The first match of the week got under way with an emphatic win to South Canterbury as they set out to defend the trophy won by last season’s team.

Batting first South Canterbury scored 180 from 48.4 overs. Two South Canterbury batsmen scored half centuries with Alastair Harvey making 52 and Sam Lane 51.

In reply Buller were dismissed for 40 with William Carter returning the amazing figures of 5 wickets for no runs off his three overs.

Scoresheet  sc-v-buller 

Game Two

South Canterbury vs Metro Black

South Canterbury continued their winning way with victory over the strong Metro Black side from Christchurch.

Batting first the second wicket partnership of 45 between Caleb Grace (14) and Alastair Harvey (43) set a platform and with Matt McKenzie (19), Sam Lane (19) and George Morgan (11) all making double figures South Canterbury eventually made 150 when all out in the 45th over.

In reply while one Metro batsman made fifty, the bowlers steadily chipped away at his partners with McKenzie continuing his good match taking 3-24 from his 10 overs, Josh Mehrtens took 3-37 and Grace 2-16 as South Canterbury kept to their task to dismiss Metro Black for 143, still 8 runs short of victory.

Scoresheet from match

Game Three (Wednesday Twenty20)

South Canterbury vs Canterbury Country

South Canterbury batted first in today’s T20 match, and a revamped batting order to suit the shorter game soon had the scoreboard ticking over with Sam Lane (19) and George Morgan (9) adding 33 for the opening partnership. Wickets fell steadily with the team at one stage 73-6 before Chris Hogan (13), William Carter (20*) and Wyatt McAughtrie (16*) all batting with better than 100% strike rates gave a surge to the tail to eventually get South Canterbury through to 125.

Canterbury Country began strongly and appeared to be cruising at 77-2 after 10 overs before good spells from the change bowlers suddenly evened the match back up as Caleb Grace took 3-18, Morgan 2-9 and Chris Hogan 2-22.

Coach Shane Gilkison would have been biting his nails as Hogan bowled a great last over breaking the 19 run eighth wicket partnership when there was a run out off his third ball.

This left Country needing 4 runs from 3 balls with 2 wickets in hand for victory – now they were the favourites!  Hogan responded emphatically by bowling the Country batsmen next ball and suddenly they had two new batsmen at the crease and still needed 4 runs to win, while South Canterbury needed to restrict the runs or take a wicket.

The fifth ball was hit for two runs leaving the last ball of the over needing to be a two or more for Country to win, or a dot ball or wicket ball for South Canterbury to win. Alas, Country scored a single leaving the match as a tie – the second best result from our perspective, and a good fightback.

Scoreboard from match

Game Four (Wednesday Twenty20)

South Canterbury vs West Coast /Canterbury Country / Christchurch

After the tied match in the morning, South Canterbury were soon back in winning form as they beat the Combined side by 71 runs in this afternoon’s T20 match.

South Canterbury batted first and William Carter continued his fine tournament contributing the top score of 33. He was well supported by Chris Hogan (29), Matt McKenzie (22), while Lawrence Darling finally got going with 10 and Steve Phillips also had his best  knock scoring 29 batting at No 7 to help South Canterbury to 142 from their 20 overs.

This was much too much for the combined team who were all out in the 17th over for 71. Five bowlers picked up wickets with Chris Hogan returning the best figures of 3-12.

Full Scoreboard from Match

Game Five – Final – (Thursday)

South Canterbury played Metro White in the tournament final in a fifty over match as they set about defending the title won by last year’s South Canterbury YR 9 side.

Batting first it was always hard going with five of the first six batsmen getting starts, but only Matt McKenzie with 37 carried on. Eventually South Canterbury were dismissed in the 47th over for 124 and looked to have the odds stacked against them.

Chris Hogan picked up Metro’s first wicket in the second over when the total was 15 but then Metro’s two best batsmen added a further 61 runs before William Carter picked up the first of his 3 wickets to have Metro still well placed at 76-2 after 20 overs.

However, this breakthrough led to more as the Metro wickets started to tumble and they were suddenly 88-5, but still with their eventual top scorer at the crease.

When Caleb Grace had him caught by Lawrence Darling off his bowling at 103-6, Metro began to look decidedly shaky with wickets falling at 107-7 and then 110-8 and at 116-9 South Canterbury had turned the game back in their own favour.  Unfortunately, like earlier in the week during the Twenty20 matches, the last wicket proved costly as the final pair added 8 more runs to have the scores tied at 124 each.

Up stepped Matt McKenzie who wasn’t going to let his runs from earlier go to waste, bowling the No 11 with his second ball in the 38th over to tie the match and defend the trophy.

Well done boys!!

Amazingly, some cricketers can play a whole career without being involved in a tied match, and the South Canterbury boys have had two in a week.

South Canterbury vs Metro White YR 9 Tournament Final Scoreboard

Asked to bat first South Canterbury scored 142 for 5 from there 35 overs with William Sharp 48, Ted Grigg 27no and James Arscott 20no the best of the batsmen.

Dunedin then lost early wickets thanks too good bowling from Charlie Martin, Hamish Stowell and Harrison Darling who were well backed up by an excellent fielding display. Dunedin finished their innings on 91 for 8 after their 35 overs.

South Canterbury now head to their districts tournament in January with plenty of confidence.

SC U16 Tournament Team 2011-12

Game One (12/12/2011)

South Canterbury vs Metro Black

After a good start with an opening partnership of 83 between Adam Beck (48) and Brett Walker (23) only Jack Woodley (38) could get going and eventually South Canterbury were all out for 188 in the 50th and final over.

In reply the strong Metro team quickly recovered after losing their first wicket with no runs on the board to add 158 runs for the second wicket which allowed them to score the winning runs in the 37th over for the loss of only 4 wickets. For South Canterbury Nick O’Brien was the most successful bowler taking 2-23.

Scoresheet

Game Two (13/12/2011)

Liam Beck scored 50 runs against Canterbury Country

South Canterbury vs Canterbury Country

Coach Justin Thompson described today’s match as a “Successful Failure” with the teams bowling and fielding improving from Day 1, and after being 20-3 chasing a very big total, fifties to Henry Race and Liam Beck also made him smile.

Unfortunately a target of 278 to win proved a bridge too far, but if the boys continue to improve as they have they will be positively dangerous by the end of the weeek.

Scoresheet

Game Three (14/12/2011)

South Canterbury vs Metro White Twenty20 Match

While the SC scoring rate was better than that of Metros, unfortunately the  loss of wickets was an even bigger issue with South Canterbury unable to bat their 20 overs, and despite Liam Beck and Henry Race top-scoring again, the target of 88 was easily achieved by Metro White.

Scoresheet

Game Four (15/12/2011)

South Canterbury vs Buller

South Canterbury had a good Thursday at tournament after batting first and setting Buller a target of 200 to win from their fifty overs.

All the South Canterbury batsmen contributed, and  again it was Liam Beck with his second half century of the tournament who led the way with 65 not out from 83 balls.

Once the opening partnership for Buller was broken it became a steady stream of batsmen returning to the pavilion as all the South Canterbury bowlers contributed with five different wicket takers.  Buller were eventually all out for 81 in the 33rd over.

Scoresheet

Dan Laming led the bowling attack against North Otago with four wickets in the first innings of the match

The South Canterbury cricket team thrashed North Otago in the opening-round match of the Hawke Cup in Oamaru at the weekend.

English import Ed Kilbee took only an over in South Canterbury’s second innings to knock off the 12 runs required for a deserved win.

North Otago won the toss and sent South Canterbury into bat on a green top and they batted well to get to 227.

South Canterbury’s three Christchurch-based batsmen got solid starts and into the 40s, with Ben McCord scoring 48, Ritchie Preston 44 and Bill Walsh 42.

The bowlers then impressed to have North Otago rolled for 96, with Dam Laming taking four wickets, McCord three and Sam Carlaw two.

Only Sean Eathorne showed any defiance for North Otago, making it into the 40s in an otherwise embarrassing score card.

North Otago were then forced to follow on and made a slightly better effort getting to 142.

Again it was the South Canterbury bowlers who put the squeeze on them, with Laming adding another two, while youngster Ben Watson impressed getting three.

Bill Walsh also showed his all-round ability with two wickets, as did Glenn Matthews in an impressive team effort.

Assistant coach Robin Beeby said it was a great team effort.

“They all performed well – to get to 227 on that track was a superb effort. It was 50 runs more than I thought we would get.”

Beeby said the bowlers then backed up the batsmen’s hard work.

“The deliveries kept the pressure on and we got the result.”

South Canterbury’s next Hawke Cup game is against Southland in Invercargill on February 4-5.

Scoresheet

Below you can see some photos from the match with North Otago courtesy of Scott Cameron which is much appreciated.

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William Sharp (c), Ben Stayt, Ed Heenan, Ben Davenport, Harrison Darling, Ben Thomson, William Johnson, James Arscott, Ted Grigg, Hamish Stowell, Charlie Martin.

Players to assemble by 9.45am, anyone unavailable contact Ants De Joux 027 229 4336