Young cricketing talent abounds

Marlborough age group cricket teams have been showcasing their talents far and wide in recent months.

Eight Marlborough Cricket age group sides have participated in various tournaments, both north and south, notching up plenty of success along the way.

Three primary school boys’ sides and one primary school girls’ combination, plus boys’ and girls’ teams at Year 9-10 and 11-13 levels have ensured Marlborough cricket is highly visible at the next level.

The Marlborough primary schoolboys Maroon and Yellow teams played tournaments in Blenheim and Ashburton respectively, while the third team, Marlborough White, competed in the Year 7 festival at Mandeville, North Canterbury.

Despite being probably, the youngest (and smallest) team at the tournament the boys performed exceptionally well, winning four out of five games against Christchurch Metro and Buller opposition, with only a tight eight-run loss to Nelson. Overall, the team finished second out of 10 teams

The batting was excellent. Eddie Taylor, Mitchell Nicholas, Josh Gleeson all scoring fast runs while Ollie Gaudin scored 122 runs overall and Archer May scored 69. Eddie and Archie Booker were the top wicket-takers.

Marlborough White: Josh Gleeson co-captain, Ollie Gaudin co-captain, Mason Byrtles, Archie Booker, Manawa Doonan, George Laugesen, Archer May, Gus Murphy, Mitchell Nicholas, Eddie Taylor. Coaches Tim May & Keiran Gaudin.

Results: beat Canterbury Macmillan by 11 runs; beat Canterbury Latham by three wickets; lost to Nelson by eight runs; beat Canterbury Bond by eight wickets; beat Buller by 107 runs.

The Marlborough Year 9-10 boys travelled to Levin for their Central Districts tournament. First up they beat Whanganui by 36-runs in a T20 clash. Batting first, Billy Hurren scored 71 from 38 balls to set up a 183 total. Lachie Cooney claimed 3-19 from four overs to lead the bowling attack.

In game two, Manawatu chased down Marlborough’s total of 80 with an over to spare. The next match was also close, Taranaki winning by two wickets, despite Louis Hickman’s 62 off 54 balls, then 3-16 off four overs.

Next up was a powerful Hawke’s Bay side, who made 229 runs in their 20 overs. Marlborough finished well short on 140, Billy Hurren top scoring again with 55 from 40.

The team got back in winning form against Horowhenua-Kapiti, winning by seven wickets after restricting their opponents to 180 all out. Pick of the bowlers was James Crowe who claimed 3-12. Marlborough knocked off the total in 21 overs, half centuries to Fionn Heagney 50 (41) and Josh Harris 62 (44).

In their final match, against Wairarapa, Marlborough batted first scoring 187, helped by Fionn Heagney’s 62 from 51. Tight bowling from Tom Heagney, 4-28, and run outs set up a nail-biting finish before Marlborough claimed the last wicket with just 18 runs to spare.

The boys Year 11-13 side played in Napier in November, winning one match and ending up fifth equal.

A member of that team, Luke Holdaway, was selected for the Central Districts under-17 side which played in the national tournament at Lincoln. The young Celtic allrounder had a fine tournament, with top scores of 51, 45 and 40, while taking 4-22 against Otago.

The girls also flew the Marlborough flag proudly, at Central Districts tournaments taking place across the North Island.

The Marlborough Year 9-10 girls played in Palmerston North from December 11-13. They competed in a grade with three other teams so ended up playing each team twice, coming away with two wins and three losses, with their final game not being played due to bad weather. Tessa Zillwood was the team’s first MVP, scoring 143 runs with a high score of 53 not out, from just 23 balls. Wicketkeeper Alice Brown was the second MVP due to her consistency behind the stumps, ending with five catches and five assisted runouts, two of her catches being one-handed dives. Vespa Duncan was named most improved. She ended with seven wickets over the tournament with an economy rate of 4.86.

The Year 11-13 girls went to Whanganui for their respective CD tournament from January 9-11, borrowing four players from Manawatu to make up the full complement. They played 5 games over two days, with two wins and three losses, a valuable learning experience.

Most recently, the Year 7-8 girls travelled to their respective tournament in Masterton, from January 13-15. Although not winning a game, it provided a superb experience for the youngsters who are excited to back next year and demonstrate what they have learned. Evi Englefield was named most improved for top scoring in the first few games and building lots of pressure in the field with her fielding. Lucia Maher provided the most memorable moment, after being nervous about going out to face some very quick bowlers from Wellington, she ended up being not out at the end of the innings.