Sports correspondent & historian with |
Bay of Plenty Cricket posted a remarkable achievement during December with four age-group sides winning their respective Northern Districts Rangatahi (Young People) tournaments, albeit with two teams sharing the spoils of victory.
The winning streak kicked-off at the ND Youth (Under 17) Girls tournament in Cambridge.
The team wore the blue and gold colours of their province with absolute pride, and steam-rolled the five other sides, with their closest contest being a 33 run win over Waikato Valley on day one.
Next up, two Bay of Plenty sides took aim on the ND Youth Boys title race hosted by the Hamilton Cricket Association.
BOPCA Coastland, drawn from the Western Bay of Plenty, batted aside the challenges of seven other contenders, although they did have to survive a couple of tough challenges on the path to the championship crown.
Reuben Carter and Mathew Dow showcased their future potential with 210 runs and 14 wickets respectively.
The Bay of Plenty ND Emerging (Under 19) Rangatahi Men's sides journeyed to the tournaments long-time venue in Gisborne, chasing further Bay of Plenty success.
Bay of Plenty Coastland had a firm grip on the tournament big prize entering their last match, with six straight wins.
However, Hamilton ended the Bay sides unbeaten run, after bowling the Coastland team out for 103 and cruising to a seven wicket win, to result in the title shared between BOPCA Coastland and Hamilton.
Three Coastland players produced some big numbers in the competition.
Ben Parlane belted 103 not out against Northland, with Oliver Norwood and Jamie Coombe both grabbing five wicket bags.
The Bay of Plenty Women's Under 19 added the icing to the cake when they shared the ND Rangatahi title with Counties Manukau.
Bay of Plenty made a spectacular start to the tournament posting 310/5 against Waikato Valley.
Amelia Harvey, hit Kane Williamson like numbers, in belting 166 which included nineteen 4’s.
Mayelan Opperman provided grand support with 60 runs with Rotorua's Sadie Stewart taking five wickets.
Around 25 years ago Bay of Plenty Cricket got serious about an age-group pathway. One of the first initiatives, was to take the introduction of the game into schools, aimed specifically at Year one to five youngsters.
This program remains (still free of charge) today under the auspices of the Northern Districts Cricket junior development program.
There is no better example of the Bay of Plenty age-group pathway, to professional cricket and national honours, than the 2005 Coastland Under-17 team.
Coached by Peter Swan, who still mentors the pivotal age-group side today, the side included current international super stars in Black Cap skipper Kane Williamson and attack bowler Trent Boult.
Peter Drysdale, who skippered the side, has gone on to make 128 Bay of Plenty representative appearances.
Bharat Popli and Tony Goodin played professional cricket for Northern Districts, with Dane Sorrenson and Shane Wineti earning selection for the Bay of Plenty team.
At the cost of sounding like a broken record – I would like to look into the crystal-ball of the future and see where the rising stars of today, sit in a decade’s time, just as we have with the Coastland 2005 Under 17 team.