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

Cricket has lost some of its allure for Sideline Sid in recent weeks, both at the local grassroots level and on the international stage.

Western Bay club cricket has been rained off in three of the last five weekends. Last Saturday, only three out of the scheduled eight matches managed to achieve a result, albeit playing through the rain and in match between Greerton and Rotorua's Geyser City Sports, leaving the field for over two hours before finally achieving a result.

Let's hope the weather gods allow full day's play this Saturday, although the long range forecast on SunLive, suggests otherwise.

A two zip loss to the Aussies at home in November, suggests that the Black Caps have also lost some of their allure, to kiwi cricket fans. However, with a bit of luck we could have squared the test series.

While we were out classed in the first test, a fighting effort in Perth led by our own Kane Williamson set up a squared three game series, if we could beat the enemy in the first ever day/night test in Adelaide.

The record books won't show that a wrong call when Nathan Lyon should have been given out early in his crucial turn at bat could have changed the eventual outcome of the test.

While the introduction of technology in cricket was lauded as ridding the game of patently wrong decisions, human error robbed the Black Caps of the early exit of Lyon.

However, there's been plenty to celebrate in Bay of Plenty Cricket in the last week.

Bay master blaster Bharat Popli continues to rewrite the Bay of Plenty Cricket record books.

Last weekend in the far north of our beautiful country, Bharat smashed his ninth century in the Bay of Plenty uniform. His ninth ton for the Bay, has further distanced him from the field on the all time century's list, with the next best of four centuries, posted by Richard Shrimpton, Mike Wright and Mathew Hart.

During last week, a young Tauranga Intermediate cricket player Nensi Patel wrote her name in the record books of the New Zealand Post (Girls) Shield Finals.

During the five days of the NZ Cricket Primary School Championships played at Lincoln University, Nensi blasted 343 runs, which included two unbeaten centuries.

Such is her talent, that earlier this year she was selected for the Bay of Plenty senior women's side, with one of her highlights bowling a White Fern first ball.

Top class cricket returns to the Bay Oval this Sunday when the Northern Knights square off with the Otago Volts, in the Georgie Pie Super Smash.

The smash and bash game will have plenty of big names of New Zealand cricket on show.

Leading the Knights charge for victory is likely to be our own Bay of Plenty players in skipper Daniel Flynn, Jono Boult, Brett Hampton and Cory Anderson.

However, the weekend smash and bash, is just the entre to two international games, at Bay Oval in early January.

The Black Caps, with Bay superstars Kane Williamson and Trent Boult, will meet Sri Lanka in an ODI on January 5, 2016, and then back up two days later in a T20 encounter.