Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s “Top Six”
1. Burnside players at rep tournaments
A number of our members have been playing in rep tournaments in January.
Opening ceremony, South Island Primary School Tournament
Six Junior Premiers played in the South Island Primary School Tournament in Blenheim.
Ryan Sheehan played for the West Coast and had a very good week. He scored 23 and took 2/4 against Otago Country, top-scored in two matches with 36 against South Canterbury and 52 against Dunedin, and had another solid all-round game playing Invercargill Metro – 30 and 2/17.
The five others players represented Christchurch Black, which came a close 4th in the tournament. Against Southland Country, Kobe Beecroft took 3/8, and followed that up with 2/5 versus Invercargill Metro and 2/1 playing Dunedin. Theo McIntosh’s best performance was 1/7 against Invercargill Metro, and Logan Roberts had 4/3/7/2 versus Dunedin. Nathan’s Paltridge’s best bowling was probably his 7/1/35/1 in the tough, and high-scoring “local derby” against Canterbury Country.
In the New Zealand Under 17 tournament in Wellington, Matt Hay’s best outing for Canterbury was a 48 against a New Zealand Invitational XI.
Blake Coburn was in the Canterbury Under 19s at the New Zealand tournament at Lincoln. His highlights were 10/1/36/2 against Wellington, 40 and 11/2/58/3 versus Auckland, and 6/1/32/2 playing Northern Districts.
2. Wins to Foxes, Mariners and Dubai Diamond Traders
No luck for our morning grade teams this week. Our Premiers lost their one-dayer to Marist Harewood by seven wickets. Carl Huyser top-scored for BWU with 32. Our 2As had an uncharacteristic bad day, with two T20 losses to Old Boys Collegians (nine wickets) and East Christchurch Shirley (four wickets). Despite 55 from debutant Hamish Kennett, the 2Bs lost their first T20 to Hornby by 25 runs, and also went down in their second match to Lancaster Park Woolston, this time by four wickets.
The first win we can report is the Presidents Foxes victory over East Shirley Blue, by 36 runs. Ben Allan (35), Grant Dickson (67) and Graeme Turner (40*) scored the bulk of the runs, and Jeff Roy franked his Al Brown form again with 29 and 3/15.
The Mariners were our sole team to take points in the 3B grade, with a six wicket win over Sydenham Goats, led by a man-of-the-match performance from Karl Grant, who took 4/20 and 61* – enough to edge him into the Al Brown top ten for the first time. Bala Cole, with 34, provided good support. The Brawlers had a six wickets loss to Old Boys Collegians, despite AmarDeep Singh’s 44, Luke Morgan’s 27* and Josh Hurrell’s 2/7. The Cannons also went down by six wickets, to East Shirley. Will Otte, another consistent Al Brown “top-tenner” hit 49, Michael Thorpe 42, and Doug Harding 26*
In the Cavaliers T20 grade, the Dubai Diamond Traders had a big nine wicket victory over Sydenham Soldiers, with Nick Tinning and Alex Truesdale hitting an unbeaten 46 and 39 respectively.
2. A fresh start for four teams
The 3B and Cavaliers (T20) grades break into two divisions this weekend.
The Cannons are round-robin leaders and therefore make the top six competition. The Brawlers and the Mariners share sixth place but unfortunately miss out on the top six on countback. They now fight it out for bottom eight glory.
In their first season, the Dubai Diamond Traders, are fifth in their fourteen team competition and therefore go into the top six from here.
4. Four players onto Honours Board
A player in their first month for the club, another player who has played for the club for over thirty years, and a 3B grade player made the Honours Board this week. See who they are here.
And one we missed last week – Bradley Woodland, also a new player, scored 53 for the 2Bs versus Sydenham.
Bradley Woodland
5. Al Brown stability
Not much change to the top of the Al Brown leaderboard this week, with Rob Gillespie (3B Cannons) still leading from Matt Farrant (Premiers) and Rahul Joshi (3B Brawlers). See the up-to-date board here.
6. Did you know….
that, continuing our look at the first New Zealand test series in 1930, our first test century was scored 80 years ago this week?
Stewie Dempster (right) and Jack Mills in a break during their record partnership
If you’ve been to the Basin Reserve, you’ve probably been through the C S Dempster gates. They are named after Stewie Dempster, who scored that first hundred. It was against England, appropriately at Dempster’s home ground of the Basin, in New Zealand’s second-ever Test. Dempster scored 136 and added 276 with Jack Mills (who too made a hundred: 117 on debut) for the first wicket – a New Zealand partnership record that remained unbroken for 42 years. New Zealand went on to make 440, bowl England out for 320, declare their second innings at 164 for 4 (Dempster unbeaten on 80), and take another four England wickets, before the match ended drawn.
Have a great cricketing weekend
Regards
Burnside Cricket