Cricket: Junior Secondary Schools primed for home ND tournament

Bella Homes Northland Junior Secondary Schools, captained by Luke Trigg, will want to put a strong showing at home. Photo/John Stone

Whangarei will showcase Northern Districts' brightest young talent at the ND Junior Secondary Schools tournament, beginning on Monday.

Bella Homes Northland will be looking to kick off the tournament in winning fashion as it has been a while since Whangarei has hosted the event.

Coach Roger Turner said a lot has gone into getting the tournament back up here and they won't be letting it go easily.

"I did one of these tournaments four years ago and Northland always has to do a lot of travelling," he said.

"I suggested why we don't share it around and then Cuni (Northland Cricket General Manager Stephen Cunis) lobbied for it and got it. I did the same thing last year with Cliff Dickeson. We've got a great committee on board."

"We are providing lunches for all the players which is standard but on Thursday night we are catering for teams and spectators at Cobham Oval, which will be a great night.

"There'll be cheaper coffees for supporters, a little hamper for the players. We're going to turn the food on so the players and spectators say 'yeah, let's definitely come back here'."

The format of the tournament sees the eight sides face off in T20s, one-day matches and a two-dayer for their final match.

The eight teams are Northland, Waikato Valley, Bay of Plenty Coastlands, Bay of Plenty Lakelands, Counties-Manukau, Hamilton, Poverty Bay and a Northern Districts Invitational XI.

As well as the players in the Northland squad, there are four players in the Invitational XI side and a further two lining up for Poverty Bay, a good sign of the depth in Northland cricket.

Turner said the Northland time has the ability to take out the tournament, but it won't come easy.

"We have the majority of the same side for the Primary Boys tournament two years ago, which we won," he said.

"That's definitely not to say we will win, but we've got a good chance. The boys will really need to pull finger."

Northland's preparations started in August, combining training with matches against some quality opposition.

In their annual Labour Weekend fixture they fell to Counties-Manukau, losing with just two balls remaining.

They reversed the result when the beat Western Districts but then lost to Harbour, who Turner said were "perhaps a bit too good, but we played terribly as well."

The Luke Trigg-captained Northland face Bay of Plenty Lakelands and Waikato Valley in a pair of T20s at Kensington Park on Monday.

Bella Homes Northland squad: Luke Trigg (c), Sam Webb (vc), Kian Bird, Cam Gordon, Alex Gordon, Max Turner, Bunny Hutchinson-Walters, Harry Cooper, Kalani Snooks, Cale Pooley, Nathan Parkes, Billy Alexander-Crawford

Northlanders in other squads: Max Hart, Baxter Skudder, Brandon Peck, Devlin Gurr (all ND Invitational XI), Vincent von Mulert-Carvell, Luke Halligan (Poverty Bay)