Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

The new hidden Western Bay jewel of the Bay (Cricket) Oval at Blake Park Mount Maunganui was the centre of attention for local cricket followers last weekend as the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl game taking centre stage.

While the game against Counties Manukau was a vital encounter for the Bay of Plenty team in the race to secure a Hawke Cup challenge next March – the centre of attention was five Bay of Plenty Black Caps that had a rare chance to play for their province.

A single window of opportunity in the NZ Cricket schedules saw Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Graeme Aldridge and Daniel Flynn, jump at the chance to play for their province in the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl encounter.

To add icing to the cake, on Thursday new Bay recruit Corey Anderson was named in the Black Caps squad to tour South Africa later this month.

While the players on the Oval were desperate to secure a direct challenge of the Hawke Cup which is the long time symbol of NZ Cricket Minor Association superiority, there was a more relaxed atmosphere on the grassy banks of the Bay Oval.

A good number of cricket mad kids, took advantage of the Black Caps presence to get up and personal with their heroes. With the international players wandering around renewing acquaintances at times during the day – there was no better sight at the Bay Oval, than the youngsters meeting their idols, with the numerous requests for autographs met with a smile.

The final result was a comprehensive outright victory to the Bay, who reserved their berth in the list of Hawke Cup direct challenges in March 2013.

The strength of Bay Cricket was shown in the number of the regular team members who made solid contributions.

While Corey Anderson was the star of the show with a blazing century, Pete Drysdale and Bharat Popli made solid starts at the top of the Bay first innings, to allow Anderson the opportunity to hit out.

The other star turn of the weekend was Kane Williamson's five wickets that wrecked the Counties second innings chase for victory.

While it is a long time since such a number of New Zealand players have been on show in the Western Bay of Plenty – 30 years ago the Te Puke Premier team rivalled any club side in the country both for talent and results.

New Zealand cricket legend Lance Cairns arrived in Te Puke at the same time as his New Zealand teammate Andy Roberts. A little later a third New Zealand international in Bruce Blair came to the club along with Glamorgan professional player John Derrick.

In the mid 1980s Chris Cairns came to live with father Lance and also played for the Te Puke Premier team as a real youngster.

There is a piece of Bay of Plenty cricket folklore, still recalled, of a Te Puke game against Albion in which the Cairns father and son combination took all ten Albion wickets.

While the days of Black Caps regularly playing in Bay club cricket or in the Bay of Plenty uniform are long gone – there is nothing better on a lazy summer weekend than hopping down to the local park to catch a game of local cricket.

Seeya at the Game.