Final Hawke Cup challenge for the season

IN CHARGE: Bay of Plenty captain Peter Drysdale will play his 80th game for the province in the Hawke Cup defence against Southland at Bay Oval. PHOTO:

It is Southland's turn to challenge Bay of Plenty for the iconic Hawke Cup, the symbol of minor association cricket in New Zealand.

The three-day match begins today at 10.30am, weather permitting, at Bay Oval and is the final challenge for Bay of Plenty for the season.

While last season saw the Hawke Cup change hands with every match, this season Bay of Plenty is unbeaten - having held onto the Hawke Cup since they overcame Hawke's Bay in Napier in the final challenge of last summer.

The Southland defence will be a notable milestone for Bay of Plenty captain Peter Drysdale. The Mount Maunganui opening batsman will play his 80th game for Bay of Plenty, moving him into outright third place on the all-time appearance records.

Going into today's Hawke Cup game with Zone Four challengers Southland, Drysdale shares third equal place with Grant Manners (79) behind Derek Beard (105) and Michael Wright (102).

Drysdale, younger brother of double Olympic gold medal rower Mahe and a former head boy at Tauranga Boys' College, made his Bay of Plenty debut in the ND One-Day tournament against Hamilton on November 15, 2009. Since then he has scored 2782 runs including three centuries and a highest score of 119.

"We are very excited about the last Hawke Cup Challenge of the season and hosting Southland who have such a rich Hawke Cup history," Drysdale said.

"There is a good feeling within the team environment and we have been working hard to give us the best chance to perform our skills under pressure.

"Personally, it is a privilege to bring up 80 games for Bay of Plenty this weekend. I have also been lucky enough to play within some of the most successful teams in Bay of Plenty Cricket history for the majority of my career.

"It is mine along with the other senior players' responsibility to ensure that we uphold the standards that we have forged our previous success on and encourage the group to push the limits and take them to new levels.

"Regardless of the number of matches played, the key is to contribute as heavily as possible with bat and ball and back each other up in the field by taking catches and creating a winning presence."

Bay of Plenty are without Yorkshire batsman Alex Lees who has returned home after making a major contribution to the team, including setting the highest individual score of 223 on debut.

"Having Alex as part of our group this year has increased the standard, particularly for our batsmen of what we can strive towards. I have told him that we are all going to be attempting to hunt down the Bay of Plenty record score set in his debut match in January against Counties Manukau," Drysdale said.

Bay of Plenty welcome back Northern Districts allrounder Brett Hampton who will add plenty of aggression with both bat and ball. Te Puke batsman and Bay of Plenty Development captain Stephen Crossan is set to make his Hawke Cup debut.

Bay of Plenty team v Southland (Hawke Cup appearances in brackets)
RPO Drysdale, captain (11), TJ MacRury (9), BS Musgrave (6), B Thompson (1), BR Hampton (8), SB Davey (8), JJ Boult (5), TJ Clarke (9), SP Crossan (debut), DM Deeble (3), CM Atkinson (3), TC Goodin (10).
Coach Graeme Aldridge, assistant coach Charles Williams, manager Wayne Brill.

Southland: Shaun Fitzgibbon (c), Rhuebyn Prattley, Jarred McKenzie, James Ng, Dan Smith, Jason Domigan, Joe Clayton (w), Jason Osborne, Kurt Thompson, Jack Mockford, Ben Lockrose, Bailey Andrews-Kennedy

The match will be livescored at www.blackcaps.co.nz