The two games at Boord Park in Rotorua have Central hosting Otumoetai Cadets with Bay of Plenty Indians squaring off with defending Baywide Cup champions Mount Maunganui.
Mt Maunganui
Home Ground: Blake Park
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup Winners; Twenty20 5th; Williams Cup Winners; Hart Family Trophy Baywide Champion of Champions Winners.
Player Gains: Chris Davies (England)
Player Losses: Mark Divehall (retirement)
Captain: Peter Drysdale
Winning three of the four pieces of Baywide premier silverware testifies to the success of Mount Maunganui last season. A winning draw against Otumoetai Cadets on the last day of the first past the post Baywide Cup was enough to win the first Baywide trophy of the season. After bowling Greerton out for 161 in the Williams Cup final, Mount cruised to five-wicket victory to claim the long-time Bay of Plenty Cricket trophy for the fifth time.
Mount Maunganui master blaster Peter Drysdale will captain the Mount premiers for the first time. While Mount Maunganui has a largely unchanged premier line-up, one significant addition is Englishman Chris Davies. The left hand batsmen can also bowl at a good pace and should prove a handy addition to the Mount ranks.
Greerton
Home Ground: Pemberton Park
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup 3rd; Twenty20 3rd equal; Williams Cup runners-up.
Player Gains: Tom MacRury (TBC)
Player Losses: Matt Earl
Captain: Shane Wineti
Greerton had a solid season in 2012/13, finishing no worse than third equal in the three competitions. However, the Pemberton Park-based unit won't forget the last game of the Baywide Cup, where they hand one hand on the cup after dismissing East Bay United for a modest 161. Former Greerton player Steven Ford created havoc with the ball, taking five wickets for 28 runs, as Greerton were bundled out for 105. They made the Williams Cup title decider before losing to Mount Maunganui.
A notable gain for Greerton is opener Tom MacRury, who will further strengthen a solid Greerton batting attack. A sparkling 132 not out for Tauranga Boys in early February earned MacRury a berth in the Hawke Cup defence against Manawatu and he went on to play a further five games in the Bay uniform. Skipper Shane Wineti along with MacRury and Brett Hampton should provide the Tauranga suburban side with plenty of batting firepower.
Te Puke
Home Ground: Te Puke Domain
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup runners-up; Twenty20 3rd equal; Williams Cup 3rd equal.
Player Gains: William Good (Auckland) Sam and Scott Tallot (Poverty Bay)
Player Losses: Sean Gibson, Ben Willgoss, Ben Williams
Captain: Mitch McCann, vice-captain: Steven Crossan
Coach: Peter Swan, manager: Paul Dwight
The big improvers in Baywide cricket last season were Te Puke. After struggling somewhat in the previous couple of seasons, under the watchful eye of coach Pete Swan, the Te Puke side were in contention in all three competitions, with the best result a close second in the Baywide Cup.
Three new arrivals from outside the region should further bolster the Te Puke team this season. Scott Tallot, who is also an accomplished rugby player, and his brother Sam have transferred north from Poverty Bay to further their cricket ambitions. Williams Good has played Auckland age group cricket and has experienced the red hot action of premier club cricket in the city of sails.
Otumoetai Cadets
Home Ground: Tauranga Domain
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup 6th; Twenty20 runners-up; Williams Cup 3rd equal.
Player Gains: Julian Bradley (Otumoetai College), Alex Oakley, Henry Conway, Elliot Jensen (Tauranga Boys' College), Mark Basarge (Auckland), Chris Norton (Tauranga), Amit Dhiman (Kaipara), Myles Timoti (overseas).
Player Losses: Campbell Wilson (retirement), Josh Evemy.
Captain: Ben Christensen.
For the first time for a number of years, Otumoetai Cadets endured a season where they failed to win any of the Baywide silverware on offer. During the last two decades Cadets have dominated the Williams Cup, winning the long-time symbol of Baywide cricket superiority on nine occasions.
A post-season review has resulted in the Tauranga Domain-based team recruiting a number of very promising youngsters. The Tauranga Boys' College trio of Alex Oakley, Henry Conway and Elliot Jenson give the side plenty of options, with Oakley and Conway having already earned selection in Bay of Plenty senior rep teams. Another extremely promising youngster is Julian Bradley who has transferred from Otumoetai College after starring in the Western Bay first eleven competitions last season.
Tauranga Boys'
Home Ground: Nicholson Field
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup 7th; Twenty20 Winners; Williams Cup 5th.
Player Gains: Grayson Kite, Ryan Balsom, Harry Semple (TBC Pathway)
Player Losses: Tom MacRury, Alex Oakley, Henry Conway, Nathan Aldersley
Captain/Coach: Mark Orchard
Tauranga Boys' College won back to back Baywide Twenty20 titles in a dramatic final. Facing Otumoetai Cadets in the title decider, the Tauranga students batted first and posted a modest 93 with Gareth Wallace top scoring with 34 runs. However no one watching could have imagined the mayhem that the four Tauranga Boys' spin bowlers would cause. At 26/6 Cadets were in desperate trouble and with Ben Noakes leading the way with 4/16, Cadets were bundled out for just 58 to hand Tauranga Boys' the title.
One of the real successes of the Tauranga Boys' First XI over many years has been the promotion of young players through the college cricket pathway. This season Grayson Kite, Ryan Balsom and Harry Semple have earned promotion to the school's first team.
Rotorua Central
Home Ground: Smallbone Park/Boord Park
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup 5th; Twenty20 6th; Williams Cup 6th equal.
Player Gains: Vaughan and Kyle Blanchard (Counties Manukau), Ryan Pedley (UK) Matt McLaughlin.
Player Losses: Ben Watkinson, Kane Spiers, Pete Wood.
Captain: Jason Trembath.
One of the oldest clubs in Bay of Plenty cricket is Rotorua Central. It had its origins as the Rotorua RSA team after WW2, before becoming Rotorua Central in the 1950s. While last season was an up and down year for the Rotorua club, they provided Greerton with a real headache defeating the Western Bay team when they were on the cusp off the Williams Cup playoffs. A sparkling 74 from Julian Danby led his team to 239 all out before they restricted Greerton to 226/8.
The loss of last year's skipper Peter Wood is more than countered by the addition of a Counties Manukau stalwart Vaughan Blanchard. He played a multitude of Fergus Hickey matches and is an all-rounder equally adept with bat and ball in hand. During the last five New Zealand winters he has joined the annual trek to the Northern Hemisphere. In the just completed 2013 season, he smashed 743 runs for the Swanton CC Premiers and finished his tour of duty with 66 wickets.
East Bay United
Home Ground: Rex Morepeth Park
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup 4th; Twenty20 7th equal; Williams Cup 6th equal.
Player Gains/Losses: Minimal.
Captain: Alex Yates.
Fourth place in the Baywide Cup provided evidence of the ability of the sole Eastern Bay of Plenty representatives. A significant scalp for the Eastern Bay side was Tauranga Boys' College who they beat three times in the season. On the afternoon of the Twenty20 title decider, the Eastern Bay side beat Tauranga Boys' in the last round of preliminary play, before the students went on to win the final.
Captain Alex Yates is a player who can change the momentum of a match when he strides to the crease. In the last preliminary round of the Williams Cup, the Eastern Bay master blaster smashed 139 against Mount Maunganui, who went on to win the Williams Cup. Further evidence of his prowess with the bat was provided with Yates posting the most runs (199) in his three games for the Bay Development team.
BOP Indians
Home Ground: Smallbone Park/Boord Park
Last Season Finishes: Baywide Cup 8th; Twenty20 7th equal; Williams Cup 8th.
Player Gains/Losses: Nil.
Captain: Prashant Dhanjee, vice captain: Sanjay Unka
While Bay of Plenty Indians best finish in the Baywide competitions was seventh equal in the Twenty20 competition, they showed marked improvement from the previous season. The undoubted highlight was defeating East Bay United in the Williams Cup. Led by Shyman Bhimjiyani and Prashant Dhanjee, who both posted scores in the 90s, the Rotorua based side posted 289/9 then bowled the Eastern Bay side out for 149 to cruise to victory.
The addition of Bay batsman Bharat Popli for their Williams Cup campaign gave the side some genuine firepower. All rounder Prashant Dhanjee, who was selected for the BOPCA Development team, is another player with genuine class.
Baywide Cup Draw, October 5
*Te Puke v Greerton, Te Puke Domain.
*Tauranga Boys' College v East Bay United, Nicholson Field.
*Central v Otumoetai Cadets, Boord Park.
*BOP Indians v Mount Maunganui, Boord Park 2.