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

Sideline Sid loves nothing better than spending an afternoon chasing cricket results on a sunny summer's day. As the Bay of Plenty provider of cricket results for the Sunday papers, it gives the venerable gentleman a ringside seat at the local Western Bay cricket action.

While cricket provides something for everyone in the Western Bay with three grades of play – the Baywide Premier competitions provide an intensity that is rarely matched in Baywide rugby.

Ten teams from the Eastern Bay, Rotorua and the Western Bay take part in five months of intense competition to decide three pieces of Baywide silverware.

The most prestigious trophy is the Williams Cup, which has been competed for in Bay of Plenty cricket since 1932. While the trophy has been the symbol of premier club superiority for many years, it was originally played as a challenge trophy, being on the line just once or twice a season.

After the Williams Cup is completed in late January, the Baywide participants will follow on with another full Baywide round for the BOP Cup. Also at stake is the Hart Family Trophy, named after the well-known Te Puke cricket family, which is awarded to the Baywide champion of champions.

With just four rounds of the Williams Cup remaining before the final, which is scheduled for Sunday, 23 January 2011 – Western Bay teams are again in charge, with Mount Maunganui, Otumoetai Cadets and Tauranga Boys College leading the points ladder.

This Saturday, 11 December 2010 brings the biggest match-up of the Baywide cricket season. Current Williams Cup champions Cadets, meet BOP Cup and Hart Family Trophy titleholders Mount Maunganui, at high noon at the Tauranga Domain.

While many of the combatants in this weekend's top of the table clash have been teammates in various Western Bay and Bay of Plenty representatives teams over the years – there will be no love lost between the two sides on Saturday.

One part of the game that is little seen from the sidelines is the sledging that takes place on the field of play. Claims of parents being unmarried along, with all sorts of 'friendly” advice provided by batsmen to bowlers and fieldsmen (and vice versa) will add colour to the weekend clash at the Tauranga Domain.

However, once stumps are pulled for the day, both sides will sit down and enjoy a beer or three together.

However, the rivalry between the Western Bay side's top teams is small change when sides from the Sulphur City come to visit. It takes little more than a gentle jibe that Western Bay teams are superior to Rotorua teams to have the Rotorua Central or Eastern Pirates bowlers steaming down the wicket.

One of the real positives from intense Baywide rivalries is that the competitiveness on the field of play provides plenty of selection options for Bay of Plenty representative teams.

It is no fluke that Bay of Plenty holds the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl that is the symbol of Northern Districts rep cricket superiority – but rather is a result of strong Baywide cricket competitions.

Seeya at the Game.