Cricket: It's time for Hawke Cup

Bay men celebrate winning the zone 2 Furlong Cup in Whanganui yesterday.

Furlong Cup's in the cabinet so it's the Hawke Cup next for Hawke's Bay senior men's representative cricket team.

The Pay Excellence-sponsored Bay side returned from Victoria Park last night after claiming first-innings victory over Whanganui to become the Central Districts zone 2 qualifiers to challenge for the Hawke Cup, the symbol of minor association cricket supremacy in the country.

That gives coach Colin Schaw and his men earn the right to challenge new holders North Otago in Oamaru on February 26-28 after the latter beat Buller by 133 runs on an artificial wicket at a rugby venue in Craddock Park, Westport, yesterday.

For Bay captain Jacob Smith, winning was never an issue but a first-innings result was imperative in a rain-prone Whanganui to ensure Manawatu wouldn't leapfrog them with an outright win.

"We just didn't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We wanted to win by first innings and set out to do that," said a Schaw who made a radical move to take nine batsmen and just two specialist seamers.

That move in itself turned out to be lucrative as four batsmen scored centuries - opener Smith (107 runs), No 3 Rupert Young (104) and No 9 Dominic Thompson (102 not out) and No 10 GC Pretorius (117 not out) in the first dig for 612 runs for eight wickets declared to the hosts' 199 all out.

No disrespect intended to the whipping boys of CD provincial cricket but the Bay should have made shorter work of them if they want to etch their name again on the Hawke Cup.

Schaw agreed: "In the first session we bowled on two sides of the wicket and didn't stick to the plan so it was disappointing."

In his men's defence, Schaw said it was the first time had had seen an outfield that was so "lightning fast".

"On a normal field their 200 runs would be worth 150 and our 600 would be more like 400."

The mercy rule should have applied yesterday but Furlong Cup qualifying rules do not allow the two-day matches to finish before tea on the final day.

However, Schaw had no qualms about that, pleased that his players had some batting crease time before the big game against North Otago.

"We created pretend situations and put ourselves under pressure to perform."

He praised seamer Liam Dudding for taking 4-44 in the first innings.

The revelation was opening batsmen Matt Edmondson who was wicket-less from six overs, including three maidens, for 12 runs.

Schaw's dilemma now is who to leave out for the Hawke Cup game considering the CD pair of spinner Ajaz Patel and Blair Tickner becoming available with the Stags having a break in a fortnight from Plunket Shield duties.

"It's great to be in that position but those who are performing now will miss out but you've got to pick the best team available."

For Schaw it was satisfying to have got this far amid some criticism of his selection.

"I gave a lot of young people the opportunity and they took it," he said, mindful some of them had been "pushed to the fringes" in the past two seasons.

He said Buller did well to win the Hawke Cup and had he been in their shoes he would have pushed for a home defence.