Player Of The Month Awards

Posted: Saturday, 7 January 2017

Player Of The Month Awards Recognise A Baywide Bowler And A Representative Batsman

A Baywide bowler and a Bay of Plenty Senior Men’s team batsman, have been recognized for their achievements in October and November, with the first two BOPCA Player of the Month Awards of the 2016/17 cricket season.

Bay of Plenty Cricket introduced the BOP Cricket Player of the Month Award in 2006. The purpose of the award is to recognise excellence in Bay of Plenty Cricket during each month of the playing season.

Otumoetai Cadets pace bowler Donavan Deeble, picked up the BOPCA October Player of the Month honour on the opening day of new season, on Saturday 8th October 2016. Squaring off against Greerton, who were the defending Baywide Cup titleholders, the Cadets attack bowler ripped through the opposition innings to grab five wickets for just 19 runs, as Greerton were bundled out for 110. Cadets then cruised to victory with nine wickets to spare.

The five wicket bag to open the current season, continued Deeble's run of form since he relocated to the Western Bay of Plenty a couple of seasons ago. Donavan earned selection for the Bay of Plenty Senior Men’s team and played his first Bay game against Northland in November 2014. Since debut, he has represented Bay of Plenty on 11 occasions, taking 38 wickets.

November 2016, was a huge month for Bay of Plenty opening batsmen Tom MacRury, who smashed his third and fourth centuries in the Bay of Plenty uniform and also passed the one thousand run mark in the process. The Bay of Plenty opener’s first century came in the two-day game with Poverty Bay in Gisborne, when he became just the 22nd Bay of Plenty player to score over one thousand runs, blasting 105 off just 116 balls.

Just two weeks later, MacRury plundered the vaunted Northland batting attack to hammer 142 before being run out. The Bay of Plenty opening batsman’s big score included 22 fours and two shots over the boundary ropes. In tandem with Bay of Plenty skipper Peter Drysdale, the pair produced a record Bay of Plenty first wicket partnership of 203, which is the second highest all-time partnership.

The two November 2016 centuries, have elevated Tom MacRury into third equal place on the BOPCA all-time century list, behind Bharat Popli (10) and Joe Carter (5) and equal with Richard Shrimpton, Mike Wright and Mathew Hart.

Bay of Plenty Cricket Player of the Month Awards
October Donovan Deeble (Element IMF Cadets CC)
November Tom MacRury (Bay of Plenty Senior Men’s Representative Team)

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