Jared van Deventer, batting, was selected for the Subway Sixers, and wicketkeeper Nathan Elliott, right, will play for the FV Vikings. PHOTOS/FILE
Only Red Star in Coastal tourney
CRICKET
Wairarapa’s representative cricketers will have little time to find their form, with an early start to the Central Districts’ premier men’s and women’s competitions.
The first balls in the Furlong Cup [Hawke Cup elimination series] will be bowled on the weekend of October 29-30 with Post Office Wairarapa taking on Whanganui away.
The Southey Sayer Wairarapa Korus’ campaign also gets under way that weekend with an away game in the women’s Mike Shrimpton Trophy against defending champions Manawatu.
The men will only have a double header in the new T20 franchise competition to prepare for the two-day format.
As was the case last year, the Furlong Cup has been compressed into the first part of the season because of Hawke’s Bay being the holders of the Hawke Cup and their first defence being in late January.
The second round has Wairarapa take on the holders in Napier on November 12-13.
That will be followed by home games against Taranaki and Horowhenua-Kapiti over the first two weekends in December before they complete their programme with an away fixture against Manawatu on January 14-15.
The Chapple Cup one-day tournament will be played over three days in Palmerston North in February.
The Korus, who were runners-up in last season’s Central District’s women’s championship, will have to wait until January before their first home game.
After Manawatu, they play Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, and a double header with Nelson away, before completing the season with home games with Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, and Manawatu.
Most of the Korus will have some cricket under their belts, weather permitting.
A warm-up game is planned against the Wairarapa Year 9-10 boy’s rep team, while the Year 11-13 girls, who have significant numbers in the Korus, have their Central Districts tournament in Whanganui over Labour Weekend.
The Korus’ Central Hinds Melissa Hansen, Ocean Bartlett, and Gemma Sims will play in a T20 tournament in Taupo involving the four North Island first-class districts, also over the long weekend.
The focus over the early part of the men’s club season will be on Wairarapa Cricket’s premier club trophy, the Bidwill Cup, and the T20 franchise competition will feature Friday night games.
The Coastal Challenge will be contested from January to March.
Wairarapa Cricket community and pathways manager Nathan Elliott said the Bidwill Cup would feature four teams – Red Star, Lansdowne, Greytown, and the Rathkeale 2XI. The games will be played under a 100-over one-day format, with points for wins, winning draws, losing draws, and batting or bonus points. The competition will comprise one full round, semifinals, and a final, probably a two-day match in December.
Disappointingly, only one team, Red Star, will play in the Coastal Challenge after the demise of the United team, which was made up of players from Lansdowne, Marist Old Boys, and Greytown.
Elliott is hopeful that some former United players, who are keen to play at a higher level, will make themselves available for Red Star for the championship.
Red Star will join four club teams from Horowhenua-Kapiti and two Whanganui club teams in the 50-over competition.
The first round will be played on January 21, although Red Star have the bye, with the semifinals and final in mid-March. There is also the likelihood of a T20 tournament to be played over the weekend of January 7-8.
Meanwhile, the four 15-man squads for the franchise T20 were determined at an IPL-style draft at Jackson Street Bar on Friday night.
The 82 players were split into four grades, ranging from the A Grade for representative players, the B and C Grades for club players, and the D Grade for secondary school players. Each of the four “ team owners” drew random lots for the order of selection.
The honour of being the first player selected went to all-rounder Jack Wakeling, the standout player of the Community Shield T20 competitions over the past two seasons, who was snapped up by the Osborne Group Strikers.
The Strikers also picked up veteran Central Stag Seth Rance, although the medium-fast bowler’s involvement could be limited depending on his Stag commitments. Captain Andy Dodd, the hard-hitting all-rounder Jaco Vorster, and Jeremy Anderson are the other rep players in the Strikers’ squad.
Wairarapa top order batter Jared van Deventer was the first A Grade player selected, going to the Subway Sixers, who also picked up medium-fast bowler Ethan Childs, and talented and hard-hitting youngsters Mark Steventon and Samuel Payne.
The Ray White Pirates, skippered by Wairarapa captain Gordon Reisima, have an experienced look with rep opener, Robbie Anderson, wicketkeeper-batter Paddy Gluck, left-arm spinner Quinn Childs, and former representatives in Tim Lucas, Hayden Spierling, and Steve Coleman.
Captain Jack Forrester, free-scoring all-rounder Gus Borren, wicketkeeper-batter Nathan Elliott, spin bowling all-rounder George Deans, and talented leg spinner Hugo Wakeling are the key selections for the Forrester Valuation Vikings.
The T20 competition gets under way with a double header on October 22.
