CRICKET CHAMPS!
Christchurch team wins title!
After nine years of trying, the East Christchurch Shirley Cricket Club won this year’s Cricket National Club Championship. The competition, held in early April at Auckland’s Cornwall Park, is now in its 17th year. It involves the top club cricket teams from all over New Zealand vying for the National Championship title. NZCT helps by funding travel and accommodation for players. Stephen Dally, General Manager Cornwall Cricket Club, says NZCT’s financial support is much appreciated:
“We believe our tournament is vital in the cricket club calendar and provides the opportunity to not only find the best club for the year from all associations throughout New Zealand, but it encourages and fosters relationships between players and clubs,” says Stephen.
“NZCT’s generous contribution enables the tournament to be conducted successfully,” he says. “The cost of travel, accommodation and normal tournament expenses can be almost prohibitive; however we are committed to offering the championship at an affordable cost to the players and their clubs. This cannot be achieved without NZCT’s assistance and vision to support sport at grass roots level.”
Stephen says East Christchurch Shirley’s win was particularly poignant considering what the Christchurch team has been through recently.
The championship involves the premier team from each district (Otago, Christchurch, Wellington, Central Districts, Northern Districts and Auckland) competing in a one day, 50 over cricket match. This year the event attracted lots of spectators, including many former Black Caps and representative players.
Supporters who were unable to attend, kept an eye on the match scores via the NZ cricket website which published the results in real time. This internet service is usually used for international matches, but was used for the first time last weekend for this exciting domestic competition.
