Ex Northland duo in team of the century'

While Northland may currently be struggling to reach their objectives on the cricket pitch, the exploits of past district representative teams has not gone unnoticed.
To mark 100 years of Hawke Cup cricket, a Team of the Century was named at the District Associations' Centennial Dinner in Wellington on Saturday evening, with two former Northland players, Brian Dunning and Robert Anderson, featuring in the team.
The Hawke Cup is the top trophy available to district associations - equivalent perhaps to the feeling attached to the Ranfurly Shield in rugby - and Dunning won the trophy four times with Northland.
Dunning, who passed away in 2008, was a New Zealand test player and still holds the record as the most capped Northland cricketer of all time and the most prodigious batsman the province has ever seen. He played 159 games for the province and scored a total of 7164 runs, more than any other Northland cricketer.
Anderson first played Hawke Cup cricket for Northland before moving south to play the majority of his career for Southland. He also became a test cricketer and represented Otago, Canterbury, Central Districts and Northern Districts at the first class level.
Anderson attended the dinner and said in contrast to some of the cricket functions he had attended in the past, the speeches were very entertaining with the highlight an address by the President of NZC Dennis Curry.
"I hadn't seen some of the guys for quite a long time so catching up with guys like Russell Merrin and Gren Alabaster made for a very entertaining night ... and I was delighted to see Brian Dunning recognised in a side that on its day would have been hard to knock over," he said.
Coach of the Blackcaps, John Wright, presented a black districts' test cap to each of the members of the side to signify the honour.
Another long-time Northland representative and teammate of Dunning, Murray Child, picked up the cap for his friend saying the award was recognition for Dunning's overall contribution to Northland cricket.
The team was selected by Ross Dykes, Jock Sutherland and Alan Whimp. Selection was based on both the player's outstanding performance and also their contribution to their district while playing.
Team of the Century: (In batting order) Mike Wright (wk, Bay of Plenty), Roger Pierce (Nelson), Robert Anderson (Southland/Northland), Richard Hoskin (Southland), Brian Dunning (Northland), Ian Leggat (Nelson/Hawkes Bay), Barry Hampton (Nelson), Dave Spence (Nelson), Gren Alabaster (captain, Southland), Alistair Jordan (Taranaki), Russell Merrin (North Canterbury), Norman Gallichan (12th man, Manawatu).