Cricket: Juniors take strike in Mini World Cup

Dan Peleti, then 11, in action at last year's Mini Cricket World Cup at Blake Park. Photo / File

Sixteen teams will enter the second decade of the Western Bay of Plenty Mini World Cup at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval tomorrow.

Initiated in 2004 by Bay of Plenty Cricket to introduce year five and six school pupils to the enjoyment of the great summer game, the tournament has since grown into one of the highlights of the junior cricket calendar.

To give the competition a real flavour of international cricket, all school teams represent a cricket-playing nation, with a trophy for the best dressed side.

Pillans Point School dominated in that respect last season, taking home best dressed honours for their rastafarian inspired West Indies uniforms.

Mount Maunganui's St Thomas Moore School, in the guise of India, took out the title last year by defeating Greenpark School (South Africa) by a slim margin in an exhilarating final that went down to the wire.

Defending 2012 champions Pillans Point rebounded from a narrow loss to Greenpark in the semifinals to defeat Mount Maunganui Primary (aka Sri Lanka) in the playoff for third place.

Those schools will likely start as favourites tomorrow morning, along with St Mary's - the most successful school in the history of the tournament with five titles in 10 years.