WK Junior Cricket 4th and 5th grades resume this weekend and no doubt these players will be excited about getting back into action after weeks of backyard and beach cricket practice! Harcourts Kiwi Cricket re-starts a week later on Saturday 10th February at Lansdowne Park. New players can still register for any of our junior grades by contacting MCA Development Manager Eddie Swan on development@marlboroughcricket.co.nz
Last Friday the PaknSave Marlborough Women’s side took on a strong Manawatu side in a T20 game at Horton Park. Megan Sandford (33) and Eden Pettigrew (34no) enabled a young Marlborough team to reach 114 for 7 batting first which Manawatu reached for the loss of 2 wickets. With 7 of Friday’s team under 18 there are good signs for the future, especially with the way the team has competed strongly this summer. Their final outing for the season is against Nelson at Horton Park on 3rd March.
SBS Bank T20 competitions move towards their conclusions this week with Wairau and Renwick currently in the top two places in the Senior Grade competition following comfortable wins last Friday. Griffin Carter took 3-8 for Wairau while Corey Bovey continued his fine season with 40no for Renwick. Celtic Green and UCVC look likely finalists in Section A of the 2nd grade competition while 35 from Wade Cornelius took Renwick Veterans to a crucial win over Wairau Awatere in Section B despite 52 from Thomas Kendrick meaning the Vets will now play Wairau Warriors in the final on 8th February. In 3rd Grade Wairau and Wairau Valley are in pole position for the final spots following wins last weekend Spencer Gregg (41no) the match winner for Valley (Ryan Clark hit a fine 75no for Celtic) while Sinclair Hill (46 & 2-17) was Wairau’s star in their win over Renwick.
The runs flowed between Wairau Valley and Renwick last Saturday in SBS Bank 40 over games. In Div1 Rikki Bovey (58), Luke Frankland (69) and Max Armstrong (52) enabled Renwick to reach 239 for 8 with Greg Stretch (66 & 2-32) leading the Valley charge before they came up just 24 runs short. In the Div2 game between the two sides Riley Brophy (57) and Greg Winstanley (78) took Renwick through to a formidable 284 (Ted Small 4-35) which Valley threatened to overtake with Ted Small completing a fine personal match with 85 from 68 balls before they came up 40 runs short. In the other Div2 game Ollie Eyles (34) and Paul Alexander (33no) along with Niko Russell (5-22) and Dom Alexander (4-12) took Wairau to a comfortable win over Celtic despite 59 from Ollie Kennedy and 3-13 from Kobi Kennedy. The final Div1 game saw Wairau beat Falcons by 5 wickets. Sam Young took 3-26 as Falcons were bowled out for 124 before Griffin Carter’s 43 saw his side home.