Cricketing youngsters relish tournament tilt

Marlborough’s primary school rep cricketers certainly made their presence felt at two tournaments in Christchurch in early January.

A Marlborough tier one Maroon side attended the four-day Canterbury Primary Summer Festival at Burnside, picking up four wins from their five outings, while a Marlborough Yellow combination played a similar event at Mandeville Sports Centre. They won three of their seven matches.

The eight tier one teams each played three Twenty/20 matches on the first two days to decide pool positions, then took part in 40-over play-off matches on the ensuing two days.

Maroon lost their first match, to a Canterbury combination, then discovered their best form, beating Canterbury Country White by 62 runs, South Canterbury by 74 runs, Canterbury White by five wickets and Canterbury Country Red by 75 runs, the latter two matches 40-over affairs.

The batters shone as the tournament progressed. Fionn Heagney registered scores of 37*, 44* and 36, his brother Thomas scored 38 and 50*, George Wilson produced an unbeaten 34, Billy Hurren scored 23* and 34, Charlie Booker registered an unbeaten 42, Lachie Cooney compiled 27 while Harry MacNeill scored 37 in the final match.

Wickets were shared around, Fionn Heagney’s 5-7 against Canterbury Country White a highlight. George claimed 3-7 against the accomplished Canterbury Black side, while Reon Holdaway, Josh Abrahams, Louis Hickman, Billy, Fionn and George all bagged braces during the tournament.

The Marlborough Maroon team: Tom Heagney, George Wilson, Fionn Heagney, Louis Hickman, Charlie Booker, Harry MacNeill, Daniel Baker, Billy Hurren, Reon Holdaway, Josh Abrahams, Lachie Cooney. Coaches: Kyle Heagney, Anna Booker, Kieran Hickman.

Several members of the Yellow team turned in notable personal efforts.

Harry Nailer excelled with the ball, finishing as the leading tournament wicket taker across all teams with 11 wickets including a best of 5 for 20, while Joseph Gilhooly was in fourth place with 8 wickets. Kyle Buckley was the teams’ leading batsman with 152 runs, fourth overall, while Eddie Russell was 11^th with 101 runs.

The Marlborough Yellow team: Joseph Gilhooly, Eddie Russell (co-captains), Hunter Wong, Kyle Buckley, Harry Nailer, Amiri Doonan, George Frampton, Max Campbell, Harry McKendry, Tamati De Wildt, Noah Hagen, Coach / Managers – Megan McKendry, Mike Russell & Ed Gilhooly.