 |
Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz |
A large part of Sideline Sid's life long attraction to cricket is the myriad of statistics and history that accompany the game.
A couple of weeks ago the skipper of the Bay of Plenty representative team wrote his name into the history books of Bay of Plenty Cricket. The Fergus Hickey match against Counties Manukau on the third day of the ND one-day tournament, brought up Jono Boult 50th game in the Blue and Gold uniform.
The Otumoetai Cadets stalwart, joins two legends of the game in the Bay, who sit in the Bay of Plenty all time top ten list for appearances, runs and wickets. Jono currently sits in 8th equal place for appearances, with 1595 runs (7th position) and 78 wickets (ninth place).
The only two players who sit ahead of Jono in all three categories are Derek Beard (105 games – 2843 runs – 204 wickets) and former Black Cap Mathew Hart (56 games – 2446 runs – 168 wickets)
Current Black Cap Kane Williamson, who blasted his third test century in the second test in Sri Lanka, is another who has been rewriting Bay of Plenty records since he first appeared for the Bay of Plenty Primary team.
At the 2003 ND Primary tournament in Gisborne, Kane set the tournament alight with 420 runs and three consecutive centuries. Coincidently one of Williamson's teammates in Gisborne was fellow current Black Cap Doug Bracewell.
One of the real success stories of local cricket, are the two grades of Western Bay competition, which are administered by the Western Bay of Plenty Cricket Association.
While Baywide premier cricket caters for the local players with further aspirations, the Western Bay Reserve and B Grade contests meets the needs of the players who want a more social approach to the game.
However, the competitive nature of cricket allows for records to be set and broken in the two local grades. A number of local players have reached the magical marks of a century or six wickets in a match this season.
On the 10th November, Mount Maunganui Reserve master blaster Khan Greig had the boundaries at Blake Park under siege, as he dismantled the Greerton bowing attack on his way to an unbeaten 209. The double century is a rare achievement in Western Bay Grade cricket and is unlikely to be bested in the current season.
Mount Reserve Grade batsmen Joel Thompson smashed 128 in a Mount local derby between their second and third elevens, with Grasshoppers B Grade batsman Ray Body posting 104 against Albion.
Two further Reserve players to make his mark, are Charanjil Singh who grabbed 6/42 for Sangha CC against the Mount thirds, while Te Pukes Isaac Newitt took 6/27 against Katikati a week later. A special mention is accorded to Te Puke premier bowler Sean Gibson, who grabbed a place in Baywide cricket history, taking a remarkable six wicket for 4 runs in Rotorua last Saturday.
This Friday brings the start of a number of New Zealand Cricket competition games at the Bay Oval this summer. The Northern Spirit come to one of their home town bases to take on the Wellington Blaze in a T20 game on Friday and back to back one-day encounters on the weekend.
Seeya at the Bay Oval