An incorrectly marked pitch disrupted play in the Wairarapa-Manawatu Furlong Cup game. PHOTOS/FILE
An underwhelming summer of sport
From championship victories and record-breaking feats to wet weather and covid interruptions, dreaded defaults, and the brazenly bizarre, the summer sports season was a mixed bag for Wairarapa athletes and teams. CHRIS COGDALE reviews the summer sports season.
CRICKET
To say the representative cricket season got under way in bizarre fashion would be an understatement.
The Furlong Cup two-day match between Post Office Hotel Wairarapa and Manawatu last October started on a Queen Elizabeth Park Oval pitch that was 2.8 metres too long.
Despite Wairarapa medium-fast bowler Stefan Hook realising that something was amiss on his second ball, it took the umpires a remarkable 12 overs to come together and check the pitch measurements.
The pitch was redrawn and Wairarapa went on to lose the game on the first innings.
That was followed by an outright loss to Hawke’s Bay, a washout against Whanganui, a first innings win but outright loss to Horowhenua-Kapiti, and the best result of the campaign- a first innings win over Taranaki in a game that had been postponed due to covid-19.
The withdrawal of the team from February’s Chapple Cup tournament in Palmerston North because of the covid-19 outbreak ended a frustrating programme.
Hook can claim the individual highlight, taking 23 wickets to become Wairarapa’s greatest wicket-taker in Hawke Cup games, finishing with 148 wickets at an average of 19.47.
However, the standout of the representative season was the success of the Southey Sayer Wairarapa Korus in finishing runners-up to Manawatu in the Mike Shrimpton Trophy — Central Districts’ premier trophy for women’s cricket.
The Korus won four of seven games to finish ahead of traditional powerhouses Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki.
Central Hinds allrounder Melissa Hansen showed her class with three consecutive half-centuries in her only appearances for the Korus, sending a message to the Hinds coaches who regularly batted her in the lower order.
Hansen was joined in the Hinds by Ocean Bartlett and Gemma Sims at various times throughout the season.
On the men’s first-class scene, veteran medium-pacer Seth Rance passed 100 wickets in T20 and One Day list A games to achieve the century of wickets in all three formats.
The Coastal Challenge involving club teams from Wairarapa, Horowhenua-Kapiti, and Whanganui was a massive let down.
After United qualified for the two-day final, resulting in a first innings loss to Kapiti Old Boys, hopes were high for the premier one-day championship. However, a Burger King Red Star win over United was the only win by a local side.
A serious knee injury suffered by Hook severely hampered Red Star’s prospects, and the understrength team struggled to match their better-drilled opponents.
United disappointingly defaulted three of their away fixtures, bringing into question the combined team’s future in the competition.
SOFTBALL
If there is a club that deserved the accolades at the end of a frustrating season, it is certainly Masterton Giants.
The club finished with two championships in Intercity Premier Three, with Giants Blue winning the Section A title, and Giants Red claiming the Section B.
The championship victories in the finals, played at their home ground South Park, ended a season of defaults and washed-out games and were just reward for the hardworking club.
The Giants women’s team also showed big improvement on previous seasons, with the young inexperienced side qualifying for the top five of the Hutt Valley Major B Championship.
ATHLETICS
Wairarapa athletes Mia Bartlett and Josh Taylor came home from the national track and field championships in Hastings early last month with gold medals.
Bartlett won the women’s under-18 javelin, with a throw of 37.08 metres with her sixth and last attempt, while Taylor’s gold medals came in the men’s para open long jump, with a best of 4.29m, and the men’s para open 400m.
An attempt by Liam Lamb to crack the milestone four-minute mile mark came up short at Masterton’s Colin Pugh Sports Bowl, although he did set new record for a mile run in Wairarapa.
His time of four minutes 07.24 seconds, beat the previous mark by four seconds, but was short of his best mile time of 4.04.75 recorded last year.
TENNIS
Gladstone junior William Orsborn, 13, produced the highlight of the season winning the open boys grade at the Central Region primary schools final in Palmerston North in November.
Orsborn won all four matches in taking the title for the leading primary school players from Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Kapi Mana, Wellington, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa.
Orsborn’s victory is the first for a Wairarapa junior boy since ATP doubles player Marcus Daniell won in the early 2000s.
Orsborn capped a fine season as a member of the Carterton side that won the Gawith Shield, Wairarapa’s premier interclub championship. Carterton ended Martinborough’s three-year championship reign with a 5-4 victory in the final.
Masterton did the double in the pre-Christmas competitions with Masterton Blue beating Masterton White in the men’s final, and Masterton defeating Martinborough in the women’s decider.
OTHER SPORTS
The Trust House NZ Cycle Classic went ahead with a field limited to New Zealand-based riders.
Scotsman Mark Stewart took the lead on the second stage and retained it for the rest of the five-day tour.
Masterton Motorplex organisers endured frustration after frustration, with covid-19 restrictions affecting competition entries and crowd sizes at the popular drag strip.
SUMMARY
Overall, the season in most codes was one affected by covid-19, especially in the latter part, the unusually wet weather in February, and an unwillingness from players to travel outside the region, in particular cricket with their inter-district competitions.
Another concern is the growing age of participants, with fewer and fewer younger players continuing in summer sport, even more so than winter codes.
That should provide enough food for thought for administrators to ponder during the off season.
