Cricket trophy up for grabs this weekend

The annual cricket "test match" between Wairarapa College and Rathkeale College will be played at Queen Elizabeth Park oval in Masterton tomorrow and Sunday.
And up for grabs will be the McBride-Peterson trophy, donated a few years back by prominent local administrators, Ashley Peterson and Craig McBride, then teachers at the respective schools.
The rules of the match honour the true traditions and etiquettes of cricket?120 overs will be played on each day and the trophy can only change hands if an outright result occurs. First innings points do not apply?although in this unique match the sides are also battling each other in the Bidwell Cup senior inter-club series and hence the first innings points will count for that competition.
Currently Rathkeale College are the holders of the McBride-Peterson trophy with last year's encounter ending in a draw with the result coming down to the very last over. Exciting finishes of that kind have become a feature of this contest.
This weekend's game should be another enthralling game. Wairarapa College will have a real desire to at least gain first innings points as they currently lie in second place, just four points point off the lead, in the Bidwell Cup series, and first innings points would be enough to get them into the final.
A number of departures from their ranks over the holiday period has, however deprived Wairarapa College of many of their more experienced players and much will depend on the performances of Joel Macklin with the ball and Robbie Anderson with the bat.
Rathkeale, for their part, will be expecting big things from skipper Andy Dodd, who has been in outstanding run-getting form lately. So much so he was selected in the New Zealand under-17 team at the conclusion of their national tournament in Napier.
Dodd led the Central Districts team there and also part of it were two other Rathkeale players, opening bowlers Doug Bracewell and Dean van Deventer, both of whom can be classified as true all-rounders as they are also more - than - useful with the bat as well.
With players of this calibre in their line-up Rathkeale have to go into this weekend's encounter as favourites but they will be well aware that Wairarapa College have a habit of rising to the occasion whenever the two teams meet and, consequently,they won't be taking anything for granted.
The two other Bidwell Cup games this weekend will also be played tomorrow and Sunday with Red Star and Lansdowne meeting at Rathkeale College and Greytown up against Academy at Greytown.
Red Star will be desperate for maximum points against Lansdowne as after their first innings win over Academy last weekend-for which they were given outright points because the first day was rained out - they now sit third on the competition table with 20 points and therefore still have a good chance of making the Cup final.
Lansdowne, on the other hand, are basically playing for pride but with the all-round skills of players like Sam Curtis and Robin James they are more than capable of not only extending Stars but actually beating them.
Greytown, the competition leaders with 28pts, are almost certain finalists although they need at least first innings points against Academy to absolutely guarantee that fact.
The return of the very much in-form Seth Rance will be a huge boost to Greytown as he has been a dominant force with bat and ball at both representative and club level this season. Academy does though have a number of batsmen who like to adopt an attacking approach and things could get interesting if a couple of them get a "flier".