Cricketers pad up on Saturday

Pitches are being prepared, bowlers are stretching muscles that have become redundant over winter and the province’s batsmen are wondering where they stored their bat and pads after last season.

On Saturday, weather permitting,  the first shots in the 2021-22 Marlborough cricket season will be played.

The new season’s format is similar to last year’s with a mix of shorter and longer-form cricket, plus matches against Nelson-based rivals to add variety to the regular competitions.

First of the three main club competitions to get underway is the senior grade one-day competition for the Grove Tavern Cup. A major change this season sees the competition reduced to a 40-over per side encounter, rather than the usual 50-over battles.

Defending champions Celtic, Renwick, Wairau and last season’s runner-up Wairau Valley will compete over three rounds starting on Saturday, with the top two teams going forward to the final on October 30.

Following those matches it is on to the 2021-22 Tasman Premier League. This top of the south competition commences on November 6 and once again the Marlborough Labour Hire Falcons and Dolphins will represent Marlborough, alongside six teams from Nelson.

Like last season, the TPL will comprise just one full preliminary round where each side plays one game against all the others, the seven round-robin games culminating in semi-finals on January 29, 2022, followed by a grand final the next day.

From late November through to early February the regular T20 competition will be staged, with games on Friday and Wednesday evenings, finishing in a final on Friday, February 11. The four main club sides will contest the senior T20 as well as Marlborough Boys’ College First XI.

The second grade T20 competition is scheduled to begin on November 18, with third grade kicking off on October 30.

The Marlborough senior rep side, under head coach Jarrod Englefield, will again be kept busy.

They start their season with a Newman Shield defence against Nelson at Horton Park on Sunday, November 7.

Their next outing will be the annual match against Buller for the Stretch/Scanlon Trophy which this year will take place in Westport on November 28.

The reps than play three Hawke Cup qualifying matches - against Nelson in Nelson on December 11-12, against Buller in Westport on January 15-16 then taking on Canterbury Country at Horton Park on January 22-23.

Then it is up to Palmerston North for the annual Chapple Cup tournament on February 18-20. This event, usually contested in November, has been moved to a slot later in the season.

Club squads:

Wairau squad (from): Nick Weaver, Tarin Mason, Alex Kennedy, Chris Turkington, Andrew McCaa, Joel Lavender, Cam Collins, Max Armstrong, Cooper Roberts, Colin Wood, Tim Petrie, Hunter Ruffell, Griffin Carter, Harry Boyce, Josh Alexander, Carter Aitken, Baxter Croad.

Celtic squad (from): Jerrym Lamb, Tom Sutherland, Josh Poole, Matt McCormick, Logan Robinson, Liam Young, Jaden Adams, Ben Holdaway, Jack Holdaway, Greg Knowles, Reuben Kepes, Tom Sloan, Jassi Brar, Shovik Saha, Joel Logan.

Renwick squad (from): Akhil Bhardwaj, Akhil Pant, Blair Timms, Cody Golding, Corey Bovey, Eden Pettigrew, Ed Gilhooly, Hayden Gaudin, Jacob Zillwood, Keiran Gaudin, Kirk Nicholas, Luke Frankland, Mark Zillwood, Maxd Brydon, Nick Wilder, Patrick Dawkins.

Biddy Kate’s Café and Bar Wairau Valley: Sam Boyce (captain), Matthew Stretch (vice captain), Chris Bartholomeusz, Chirag Jagota, Benjamin Ivory-McCullum, Joel Pannell, Tom Leonard, Jethro Moran, Tim Abrahams, Greg Stretch, Patrick Wilkins, Michael Dillon, Luke Pannell, Damian Sexton, Will Sutherland, Kohri Brown, Sean Moran.

TPL squads:

Falcons squad (from): Matthew Stretch (captain), Nick Weaver (vice-captain), Sam Boyce, Tarin Mason, Chris Bartholomeusz, Benjamin Ivory-McCullum, Cooper Roberts, Joel Lavender, Tim Petrie, Cameron Collins, Joel Pannell, Luke Pannell, Tom Leonard, Hunter Ruffell, Griffin Carter, Greg Stretch.

Dolphins squad (from): Tom Sutherland, (captain) Akhil Pant, Blair Timms, Corey Bovey, Jacob Zillwood, Kirk Nicholas, Michael Anstis, Patrick Dawkins, Jaden Adams, Jack Holdaway, Jerrym Lamb, Joel Logan, Josh Poole, Liam Young, Logan Robinson, Matt McCormick. Some Falcons players will be loaned to the Dolphins when required.