Club Cricket Watch 2023-24 | Canterbury, Otago & Southland

The 2023-24 season saw some premier cricket teams winning championships for the first time, while others extended their legacies. Find out more right here!

CHRISTCHURCH METRO:

Burnside West Christchurch University Cricket Club enjoyed another strong season in Christchurch, reclaiming the Two-Day title as well as winning the One-Day title.

BWCUCC only dropped one game on their march to a Two-Day championship, taking out the competition for a second year running.

Scott Janett was in fine form all summer for BWCUCC, scoring 849 runs across the One & Two-Day competitions. Matthew Hay’s off spin proved fruitful for BWCUCC, taking 40 wickets across the same formats.

Janett showed his class in BWCUCC’s One-Day final against Lancaster Park, scoring an unbeaten half-century (83* runs) to comfortably chase down LPCC’s total of 200/10.

Former NZU19 captain Oscar Jackson (3-29) impressed earlier in the day, taking three key wickets alongside fellow seamer Alex Tait (3-46).

Sydenham Cricket Club picked up an elusive T20 championship, their first trophy in seven seasons.

After a positive start from Lancaster Park’s in the T20 final, Sydenham’s bowling unit – led by spinner Harsh Visavidya (4-15) – were able to put the clamps on, restricting LPCC to just 104 runs.

Contributions across the board from SCC’s top five batters seeing them home with an over to spare.

Seam bowler Tom Agnew enjoyed a season to remember, finishing as the top wicket-taker across all OEM Audio Men’s Premiership competitions.

Burnside West Christchurch University CC (OEM Audio Premiership - Men’s Two-Day),
Burnside West Christchurch University CC (OEM Audio Premiership – Men’s One-Day),
Sydenham CC (OEM Audio Premiership – Men’s T20).

Sydenham Cricket Club & Lancaster Park Cricket Club again showed their dominance in Christchurch Metro’s Premier Women’s competitions.

This season saw a reversal on last season’s results with Sydenham claiming the One-Day title and Lancaster Park winning the T20 & Four20 Fizz competitions.

Thanks to contributions across the board, Lancaster Park were able to record a record of 4-2 in the T20 competition, before putting on a masterclass in the competition final.

Bowling first, Jess Simmons (5-12) & Jacinta Savage (2-12) of the Canterbury Magicians were able to rip through North West CC’s batting unit, dismissing them for just 44 runs.

Harriett Graham, another Magicians representative (24*) helping LPCC cruise to a 10-wicket victory.

Lancaster Park Cricket Club took out the third edition of the Four20 Fizz competition - a multi-innings format, allowing each team 40 overs to bat, broken up into two 20 over innings.

LPCC’s success was in large part thanks to Katie Midwood, who finished as top wicket-taker with 23 wickets across all competitions. Adding to her exploits with the ball, Midwood also finished as second top run-scorer with 380 runs at an average of 34.6.

A tense One-Day final saw Sydenham Cricket Club chase down a competitive 136/10 against Lancaster Park.

SCC were led by the experience of Otago Spark, Felicity Robertson (2-37 & 33 runs), and vice-captain Beth Dodd (2-17 & 30 runs), whose contributions saw SCC home in the 48th over.

Women’s Club Player of the Year, Beth Dodd, had a fantastic year for Sydenham – totalling 466 runs and claiming 20 wickets.

Sydenham CC (EV Power Premier Women’s One-Day),
Lancaster Park CC (EV Power Premier Women’s T20),
Lancaster Park CC (EV Power Premier Women’s Four20 Fizz).

BULLER:

Athletic hold the bragging rights in Buller, dominating the senior competition all season and carrying their form into their final against the Ngakawau Tigers.

Sent in to bat, Athletic were able to get the upper hand through David Marais (40 runs) and Devlin Pratt (30 runs), both playing aggressively and pushing Athletic’s total to an impressive 169/9 from their 20 overs.

Despite the best efforts of Ngakawau’s Rory Weston (40 runs), Athletic were able to secure a 43-run victory - highlighted by a 5-wicket bag to pace bowler Flynn Aldridge (5-28).

Athletic (ESL Senior Trophy - Men’s T20).

CANTERBURY COUNTRY:

Weedons Cricket Club completed the double in Canterbury Country’s Premiership, taking out both the One-Day and T20 competitions.

Weedons hit form at the perfect time in the One-Day competition, knocking over competition leaders, Sefton CC in their semi-final, and producing a strong bowling effort to beat Darfield CC in the final.

Electing to bat first, Weedons found themselves in some early trouble before a Harry Passenger (46 runs) and Jeremy Benton (42 runs) led a counterattack. They combined with the middle order to see their side to a respectable 192 runs.

Darfield were unable to gain any momentum in response, losing wickets at regular intervals. Charlie Robson was the best of the Weedons bowlers, showing the form that saw him end as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets.

Batting first in their T20 final against Sefton, Weedons were able to post a formidable 187/6, thanks to a rapid-fire George Hill century (101 runs off 55 balls).

Hill went on to return the best figures for Weedons (3-14), while Matt Laffey (68) led the way for Sefton. In the end, the total would prove too much for Sefton, eventually falling 36 runs short.

Jeremy Benton was impressive for Weedons with both bat & ball, scoring 297 runs and 17 wickets across the season.

Ohoka picked up a hard-fought victory against Oxford-Southbrook to win the Premier Plate for 2023-24.

Will Hamilton played a vital role for his team, taking three wickets (3-36) in the 1st innings, followed by an unbeaten 87* runs to lead his team to victory.

Weedons CC (Premiership Men’s One-Day),
Weedons CC (Premiership Men’s T20),
Ohoka (Premier Plate).

WEST COAST:

Blaketown put together a flawless campaign in West Coast’s senior competition, culminating in a big victory over Wests. Their victory signified a fourth championship in just eight years of competition.

Blaketown’s Nathan Coll enjoyed a fantastic season across the board, leading the competition with 20 wickets, and finishing as third top run-scorer with 200 runs.

Blaketown CC (Men’s T20)

MID/SOUTH-CANTERBURY:

Celtic Cricket Club managed to pinch the Tweedy Cup for another season, beating form team Pleasant Point in the competition final.

Heading into the final unbeaten, PPCC were asked to bowl first and were put under pressure by Celtic’s resilient top six batters.

Thanks to contributions from the top six, Celtic eventually ended up at 200/10 and produced a fantastic bowling display in the 2nd innings to dismiss PPCC for 159 runs.

George Norton-Powell (4-23) delivered a fantastic spell as first change bowler to swing the momentum towards Celtic.

Pleasant Point Cricket Club bounced back in the T20 competition, winning the competition final to eliminate Celtic’s chance of a second season winning all premier competitions.

After keeping Celtic to just 101 runs, Liam Beck (56 runs) tallied a vital half-century in PPCC’s run chase, locking in the win for PPCC.

Celtic CC (Tweedy Cup – Senior Men’s One-Day),
Pleasant Point CC (Senior Men’s T20).

DUNEDIN:

North East Valley Cricket Club picked up the Bing Harris Shield for a consecutive year in Dunedin Cricket’s Premier Grade, rewarded for their consistent performances throughout the season.

NEVCC’s Oli White (87 runs) produced a match-winning innings in the One-Day final to help the Swans chase down Albion Cricket Club’s 226 runs.

Honours were shared between NEVCC & University Grange Cricket Club in a rain effected T20 final, UGCC able to total 49 runs in just 5 overs to equal the DLS target.

NEVCC’s Hunter Kindley (488 runs & 28 wickets) was reliable with both bat & ball, well supported by fast bowler Kaleb McKay (29 wickets).

Taieri Cricket Club put forward their best work in the Declaration competition, winning four matches and drawing one to emerge as the form team of the longer format.

Beckham Wheeler Greenall & Nick Kwant emerged as a key figures with the bat, while Ben McCall enjoyed his time bowling with the red ball.

North East Valley CC (Night ‘n Day Dunedin Premier Grade, Bing Harris Shield – Men’s Overall),
Taieri CC (Otago Sports Depot Declaration Cup),
North East Valley CC (Speights Cup - Men’s One-Day),
TIE (DLS) – NEVCC & UGCC (Dunedin Premier Grade - Men’s T20).

NORTH OTAGO:

Oamaru Cricket Club took home the Borton One-Day Cup in North Otago, thanks to the efforts of batters; Luke Taylor (447 runs), Stephan Grobler (345 runs) and bowler Bradley Flint (30 wickets).

OCC were able to tally 206/9 in the competition final, largely thanks to form batter Luke Taylor (73 runs). Bradley Flint (5-10) then took over with the ball, ripping through Union Cricket Club’s batting order on his way to a 5-wicket bag.

Earlier in the season, Union Cricket Club were able to take home T20 honours, chasing down 132/8 against Oamaru in the T20 final.

Blake Martin (3-27) took three key wickets through the middle overs, while opener Kane Mclauchlan’s quickfire innings (44 runs off 21 balls) gave Union the positive start they needed.

Oamaru CC (Borton Cup - Men’s One-Day),
Union CC (Dick Hunt Memorial Rosebowl - Men’s T20).

OTAGO COUNTRY:

Queenstown Cricket Club only registered one loss on their way to clinching the Otago Country’s One Day competition.

Kevin Loggenberg (274 runs) and Kevin Peiris (14 wickets) were dependable for QCC throughout the competition, Loggenberg saving his best for the competition final.

A man of the match performance saw him taking five wickets (5-30) in the 1st innings, followed by an unbeaten half-century (72* runs) to chase down Wanaka’s total with just an over to spare.

Wanaka Cricket Club went unbeaten through four matches top the table of OCCA’s Declaration competition.

WCC’s Tim Cotter (293 runs) & Marco Di Cesare (16 wickets) were the clear standout players across the competition, finishing as top run-scorer and wicket-taker, respectively.

Cotter enjoyed a particularly impressive run in the competition; averaging 97.7 runs, scoring a century and two half-centuries, all while striking at over 100.

Queenstown CC (Vincent Senior Koford Cup - Men’s One-Day),
Wanaka CC (Vincent Senior Scurr Cup - Men’s Declaration).

SOUTH OTAGO:

The Owaka Cricket Club Bandits reclaimed South Otago’s One-Day title with a 7-wicket victory over the Waihola Swans.

A team effort with the ball saw all six Owaka bowlers taking at least one wicket, Matt Morahan (3-16) returning the best figures to dismiss Waihola for just 73 runs. A timely half-century from Owaka’s season leading run-scorer, Jeremy Gray (53* runs), seeing Owaka cruise to victory in the 19th over.

A nail biter against Waihola in the T20 competition final resulted in Clutha Cricket Club holding on to win the competition for the first time.

Clutha were able to post a respectable 118/8, largely thanks to Caleb Carson (29), Kelan Smith (21) and Dom Grinton (15). Wickets through the middle to Ryan Clark (4-14) keeping the total within Waihola’s reach.

In response, two early wickets to Connor Smith (2-19) got Clutha on the front foot, before Nick Manston (3-20) took over through the middle overs. Clutha maintained the pressure throughout the innings, closed out by the economical Kelan Smith, eventually seeing Waihola fall 7 runs short.

Owaka CC (South Otago - Men’s One-Day),
Clutha CC (South Otago - Men’s T20).

SOUTHLAND:

Southland Cricket’s ILT Premier competition saw the two form teams; the Appleby Rams & Invercargill Old Boys’ meet in both the One-Day and T20 competition finals.

The first of these meetings was in the T20 final, where Invercargill Old Boys’ Cricket Club escaped with a narrow 3-wicket victory.

Appleby elected to bat first and got off to a fine start through Kieran Lloyd (47 runs) and the top order. Spinner Jake Kura (4-24) was able to swing momentum back towards Old Boys’, picking up four big wickets, and keeping the total to 120/8.

After a false start, Old Boys’ looked to their captaincy duo – Sam McLachlan (20) and Kieran O’Neill (41 runs) - who revitalised the innings before losing their wickets. Ryan Acland emerged as the hero, however, scoring 25 runs off just 10 balls to win the match with a ball remaining.

Appleby Cricket Club returned the favour in the 50 Over competition, sneaking home in a rain effected match.

Electing to bat first, IOBCC were only able to muster 133 runs, led by a Brendan Domigan half-century (55 runs). Jacob Downing (4-17) returning the best figures for Appleby.

A series of early wickets saw Appleby chasing the game early, until Ryan Rusk (41*) put his hand up, playing a key innings to see Appleby just ahead of the game when the rain hit.