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Sports correspondent & historian with |
The last weekend in March brings an end to the local cricket season, with the final of the three Baywide titles on the line.
One of the oldest trophies in Bay of Plenty sport will be decided when Mount Maunganui and Greerton go into battle at the Bay Oval to determine the Williams Cup for the current season.
There will be a collision of old and new cricket history when the two Western Bay premier sides square off on the Blake Park international wicket block.
Few local cricket fans could have imagined the procession of the world’s cricket superstars that would visit the Bay Oval since the first sod was turned in March 2005.
Last October, Australia finally joined India, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan in meeting the New Zealand Black Caps in cricket combat at the Bay Oval.
The inscription on the Williams Cup reads: “Presented to the Rotorua Cricket Association by Mr & Mrs Godfrey Williams of Abeppercwm,” with (Rotorua) City Cricket Club emerging in 1933 as the first winner of the Williams Cup.
For many seasons the Williams Cup was a challenge trophy, open to Bay of Plenty first‑grade sides but limited to just three challenges each cricket year.
Bay of Plenty Cricket took over from the Rotorua CA as guardian of the time‑honoured cricket prize, with the Williams Cup taking centre stage as the BOPCA Baywide premier championship trophy.
Today, the Williams Cup is the final leg of the Baywide trifecta, which begins with the Bay of Plenty Cup and is interspersed during the season with the T20 Championship.
The road to this year’s title decider saw Mount Maunganui come from fourth place in the preliminary competition to post a very big target of 273/8, then bowl top qualifier Te Puke out for 109.
Mount Maunganui were led to victory by 108 from Harry Burns and a five‑wicket haul by skipper Niven Dovey.
Greerton repelled a challenge from arguably the most improved team in Baywide premier cricket in recent seasons – Lake Taupō CC.
The hosts batted first and posted 238 for the loss of eight wickets. A sustained Greerton bowling attack removed the Taupō side for 170 to give the Black and Gold brigade an appointment at the Bay Oval on Saturday.
Long‑serving Greerton bowlers Jared Tutty and James Boyd did the damage with the ball, taking seven wickets between them.
A perusal of the Williams Cup victory list since the start of the new millennium reveals that Mount Maunganui and Greerton have enjoyed multiple successes.
Mount Maunganui’s record is six titles in the past two and a half decades, with the Mount side entering the furnace of the Williams Cup title decider as the defending champions.
Greerton have enjoyed three Williams Cup title celebrations since 2000, with the last a muted affair after finishing as top qualifier in the Covid‑ravaged 2020 title race.
Last season, the Mount premier representatives chased down Te Puke’s target of 200 runs with five balls to spare.
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With a full‑strength side courtesy of the return of several Bay of Plenty representative players, Mount Maunganui will likely go into the title decider wearing the favourites tag.
However, Greerton have built a culture over the past decade and a half that has seen the Pemberton Park side capture nine Baywide trophies — and they will fight to the death before surrendering their 2026 Williams Cup aspirations.
Late on Saturday afternoon, the puzzle will be solved, with the new Williams Cup champions lifting the trophy aloft in victory.