Cricket: Bay of Plenty end disappointing season with defeat

Tony Goodin sends one down for Bay of Plenty at Tauranga Domain. Photo / File

Bay of Plenty ended their rep season in disappointing fashion with a defeat to Waikato Valley in a two-day Fergus Hickey fixture over the weekend.

The defeat at Tauranga Domain put an end to a season for Bay of Plenty that had begun with such high hopes as Hawke Cup defenders and Fergus Hickey favourites.

A lack of runs was the common denominator throughout the season with the Hawke Cup loss to Counties Manukau due to a batting line-up full of current and past Northern Districts players failing to fire.

Coach Charles Williams in his first season in charge takes responsibility for what happened but the nucleus of experienced players need to have a good look at their own performances.

"I am going to sit down with Pete (Drysdale) and Jono (Boult), the two captains, and have a review and try and nut out exactly what went wrong. We also need to look at what we need to change and not just at all the negatives but what we can control for next season," Williams said.

"We definitely learnt a lot and the standards probably weren't set high enough. It is a team that has had plenty of success in the past and haven't really been pushed or put under this sort of pressure for a while now. We just didn't cope with it very well.

"We will be addressing all those types of things and getting ready and organised for next season definitely."

The continued performances of younger players at Baywide club level with many stepping up to Bay Development side while still at school is a positive sign for the future of Bay cricket.

The likes of Fergus Lellman, Marcel Collett, Ben Pomare, Ruben Clinton, Iman Singh and Cam Riley are all likely to push for first-team places in the next few seasons.

Stephen Crossan, who was the shining light scoring a century on his debut for Bay of Plenty in the loss to Waikato Valley, is a fine example of how well the Bay pathway is working.

"He showed how you can do it. He got plenty of runs for his club and for Bay Development and was waiting for a chance to get into the senior team. When it came he took it with both hands," Williams said.

On Saturday Waikato Valley batted first at Tauranga and were removed for 180 with Bay captain Boult taking 5-36 and Chris Atkinson 3-16. Bay could only manage 142 in reply with opener Tom MacRury holding up one end making 55.

Waikato Valley declared at 202-9 leaving Bay 240 to win. Crossan smashed 11 fours and two sixes in his maiden 100 but lacked support as the Bay fell 38 runs short.
Fergus Hickey, Tauranga Domain
Waikato Valley 180 (DJ Kelliher 58; Jono Boult 5/36, Chris Atkinson 3/16) & 202/9 (CJ Swanson 54, J Gibson 53; Chris Atkinson 2/6, Sean Davey 2/15, Joe Carter 2/41, Jono Boult 2/41) defeated Bay of Plenty 142 (Tom MacRury 55, Brett Hampton 25; J Gibson 4/42, CA Andrews 3/29) & 202 (Stephen Crossan 100, Tim Clarke 25; S Sistern-Tate 4/45) outright by 38 runs.

ND Development Competition, Gisborne
Poverty Bay 232/7 (N Hendrie 109; Cam Riley 2/40, Gurwinder Singh 2/43) defeated Bay of Plenty 207 (Marcel Collett 55, Ruben Clinton 34, Fergus Lellman 28, Iman Singh 23; J Rowe 4/37)