Bay of Plenty Hawke Cup Defense

Posted: Thursday, 26 January 2017

Bay Of Plenty Cricket To Write Another Page In Their Hawke Cup History Against Counties Manukau

Bay of Plenty Cricket, will write another page in their Hawke Cup Direct Challenge history, when they play Counties Manukau at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui over Auckland Anniversary weekend (28/30 January 2017).

The Hawke Cup Direct encounter at the Bay Oval will be Bay of Plenty’s twenty-ninth Direct Challenge. Entering the weekends match-up, the Bay of Plenty teams record since their first challenge in 1932, is twelve wins and sixteen losses.

Current Bay of Plenty Senior Men’s Coach Graeme Aldridge, knows all about the intensity of Hawke Cup cricket having played in three Hawke Cup Direct Challenges in 1997, 1998 and 2000.

When asked about the Bay of Plenty challenge of the Mount Everest of the countries provincial cricket this weekend, the Bay coach said “I want the guys to approach to approach every game that we play, in the same way, regardless of who we are playing or in what competition”. “The danger of playing Hawke Cup cricket is perceiving it to be more intense that Fergus Hickey (Rosebowl) as the guys try too hard and play differently to their normal games”.

“My expectations are that we win, but that won't necessarily be our focus. We just need to do the little things well and see where we get to in the game. We've prepared very well, so if guys are relaxed and play how they play then I think the outcome will take care of itself”.

“The key elements are to be aware of what they are doing, but more importantly worry about what we are doing. Our bowling is a little bit light in experience and also some of our main men are under injury clouds, so the way Pete (Drysdale) manages them will be crucial. All I want to see, is guys trying as hard as they can to help the team win”.

There are a number of battle hardened Bay players, with plenty of experience in Hawke Cup Direct Challenges in the last decade, selected for the weekend’s game. Bay of Plenty captain Pater Drysdale has played in eight Hawke Cup battles since his entrance against Manawatu in 2010.

Tony Gooding has taken a Bay of Plenty record 34 Hawke Cup wickets in seven encounters. He has best bowling figures of 7/42 and is the only Bay player to take ten wickets in a match in Hawke Cup cricket. Joe Carter has a Hawke Cup highest score of 187, scored against Hamilton when Bay of Plenty posted a record 701, to bring the NZ Cricket trophy back to the Bay in 2013.

The ace card in the Bay of Plenty batting line-up could be Yorkshire County CC limited overs skipper Alex Lees, who is playing in the Bay during the English winter. The Yorkshire opening batsman has smashed over four thousand first class runs and added nearly two thousand runs in limited over cricket. Lees is making his Bay of Plenty debut against Counties Manukau.

Bay of Plenty keeper Tim Clarke is no stranger to standing behind the stumps in Hawke Cup cricket and is also a more than useful middle order batsman. Tom MacRury, Ben Musgrave and Sean Davey, all played, when Bay of Plenty lifted the prestigious NZ Cricket Minor Association prize from Hawkes Bay at the tail-end of last season.

At the other end of the experience spectrum – Chris Atkinson, Donavan Deeble, Iman Singh and Gurwinder Singh will all be making their Bay of Plenty Hawke Cup debut on Saturday morning.

NZ Cricket Hawke Cup 2017
28/30 January Bay of Plenty (Holders) v Zone One Winners – Counties Manukau

Bay of Plenty Team (Hawke Cup Direct Challenge appearances in brackets)
Peter Drysdale – captain (8) Tom MacRury (6) Alex Lees (Bay of Plenty debut) Joe Carter (5) Ben Musgrave (3) Chris Atkinson (0) Tim Clarke (6) Iman Singh (0) Gurwinder Singh (0) Sean Davey (5) Donovan Deeble (0) Tony Goodin (7)
Coach: Graeme Aldridge Assistant Coach: Charles Williams
Manager: Wayne Brill

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