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Sports correspondent & historian with |
Our Bay of Plenty senior representative cricket side picked up from where they left off last season, taking first innings points from Northland, after a long journey to Northland last weekend.
Northland fancied their chances against the defending Fergus Hickey Rosebowl titleholders, and elected to bat first, after winning the toss in the two-day encounter.
New recruit, Faheem Basharat, and Josh Earle quickly got amongst the opposition top order with the ball, to have them four down with just 20 runs on the board.
The hosts were ripped out for just 132 runs, to put Bay of Plenty in a strong position to earn the necessary points to cement the Hawke Cup Direct Challenge in early 2026.
Basharat and Earle led the bowling attack with three wickets apiece, while skipper Oli White returned 2/39.
The two Bay openers both made positive starts before the arrival of Bharat Popli in the middle.
The ND contracted batsman, who loves nothing better than pulling on the BoP uniform when available, continued his place at the top of the all-time Bay of Plenty runs tally.
Batting at three, his side’s top score of 68 took his all-time total to 4528 runs, since his BoP debut at Smallbone Park way back on December 6, 2008.
Bharat Popli is entitled to be called the best Bay of Plenty batsman of all time after breaking through the 4500-run barrier, with the icing on the cake being a massive 14 centuries, six in front of the next best in Joe Carter.
Solid middle and tail ender contributions propelled Bay of Plenty to 262, which gave the visitors a 130-run lead - and the valuable first innings points which cemented the ND Hawke Cup Direct Challenge.
The Hawke Cup has an interesting back story.
The Hawke Cup, which is the symbol of NZC Minor Association cricket superiority in New Zealand, was presented by Lord Hawke in 1910. Martin Bladen Hawke, seventh Baron Hawke of Towton, was the father of Yorkshire County Cricket.
Lord Hawke strode the cricketing world like a colossus for half a century as a player and administrator who played a major part in the modernisation of the game.
He was a keen advocate of overseas tours, a strict disciplinarian, and a determined upholder of the game’s traditions.
His first-class career spanned 31 years (1881-1911/12) and he captained Yorkshire for 28 years. Lord Hawke led Yorkshire to eight championship titles and captained England on four occasions. He became MCC President, served on the Cricket Committee and became Chairman of Test selectors.
Bay of Plenty is the second cab off the rank in the 2025/26 Hawke Cup Direct Challenges with a February 13-15 appointment with the holder.
Taranaki will enter the 2026 Hawke Cup competition as the current titleholder but will need to survive the Central Districts challenger in late January, to square off with the Bay of Plenty in the ‘Naki in the second Hawke Cup Direct Challenge of the season.