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

Driving to the Bay Oval on Easter Friday, Sideline Sid did a double take as he drove into Blake Park.

The Mount Maunganui Cricket Club building that had stood as a sentinel on the outskirts of the Mount green-space, had been reduced to a heap of rubble.

While there was no surprise with the demolition, which had been spelt out when the Mount Maunganui Cricket Club relocated across the road to the Mount Rugby Club twelve months ago, it was the sudden realisation that another link with Blake Park's past had disappeared without notice.

In earlier years, hockey was played on grass at Blake Park, with hockey and cricket combining to build the Blake Park club rooms under the umbrella of the Mount Maunganui Cricket and Hockey Society.

From the mid 1980's to 2002, Northern Districts hosted major association one-day games at Blake Park on the wicket immediately in front of the club-house.

Thousands of cricket fans would flock to Blake Park to watch the best players in the country blast the ball to the boundaries during the height of the annual holiday season.

The Mount Maunganui Cricket headquarters became the operation centre of a finely tuned team of volunteers, who delivered exciting cricket action in spades.

Until dropped by New Zealand Cricket because of the supposed sub-standard pitches at Blake Park, the popular holiday venue used to attract some of the largest one-day crowds each season.

The demise of top class cricket at Blake Park became the catalyst for the development of the Bay Oval, which now brings international One-Day and T20 games to the Western Bay of Plenty.

Few would have imagined when the Mount cricket clubhouse was built, that cricket fans would get to catch the likes of South Africa and Sri Lanka, just a big six away on the Bay Oval.

Mount cricket pre-dates the formation of present Mount Maunganui Cricket Club in 1967.

'Caught Wright Bowled Beard”, which is the story of the Bay of Plenty Cricket, shows a photograph of a Mount Maunganui cricket team in 1923.

Research courtesy of Papers Past, revealed that during January 1913, the second match of the Belt competition was played at the Domain between the Mount and a B team.

'When stumps were drawn at six o'clock the B's were still at the wicket, with the match decided on the first innings, victory going to the Mount."

On Easter Friday, Mount Maunganui and Te Puke met to decide the current season winner of the Williams Cup, which is the oldest Bay of Plenty Cricket prize.

First contested in the 1932/33 season, the Williams Cup is the symbol of Baywide cricket superiority.

In a season finale befitting a trophy that dates back some eight decades – the 2016 Williams Cup turned into a marathon with plenty of high drama, before the final produced a result in fading light.

Mount Maunganui lost the toss and were asked to bat on what turned out to be a seaming wicket.

The Mount were bowled out for 136, with Te Puke losing three wickets before the rain drifted in, with the players leaving the field for what turned out to be a three-hour break in play.

Finally around six o'clock the rain stopped, with the umpires scheduling a 6.30pm resumption of the title decider.

A revised target of 86, meant that Te Puke needed 39 to win off 42 balls. Te Puke needed two runs off the last ball of the match to claim victory, with the Mount Maunganui fielders only able watch as the Te Puke batsmen ran two to grab victory.