Taradale batsman Callum Hewetson has been a big part of their rise this season.
- This article is provided courtesy of Hawke’s Bay Cricket Association
Two things stand out about the Hawke’s Bay premier men’s club cricket season: the unexpected rise of Taradale and the slight fall in the fortunes of Napier Technical Old Boys.
Both line up in Saturday’s MJF Shrimpton Memorial Cup semifinals, on the back of contrasting form.
Taradale have won nine games on the trot and meet Havelock North at Cornwall Park, in the battle between third and second on the Shrimpton Cup ladder, while Tech host Central Hawke’s Bay at Nelson Park in the other match.
Given CHB stalwart Angus Schaw has scheduled a weekend of wedding festivities, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of team the visitors can muster.
Tech beat Cornwall by 46 runs in Saturday’s final round of the Laver & Wood competition, to snap an uncharacteristic run of form.
“We’ve had a tough six weeks, with three or four losses in there which the majority of us aren’t used to,” Tech captain Todd Watson said.
The allrounder scored 115 on Saturday, having spent the second half of the season playing as a specialist batter due to injury.
Taradale claimed the Laver & Wood title, courtesy of their six-wicket win over CHB on Saturday, while Havelock beat Napier Old Boys’ Marist by 40 runs.
Tech secured the overall club championship some weeks ago and were so dominant before Christmas that they were never going to be overhauled as top qualifiers in the Shrimpton Cup. But their form in the Laver & Wood competition has been patchy and they were bundled out of the recent Murray McKearney Memorial Cup Twenty20 playoffs by CHB.
“There’s been a lot of learning and some of us older guys realise it’s maybe not the Tech of old and it’s going to take a lot more to win these trophies,” Watson said.
“Someone said to me after the T20 semifinal ‘was that a bit of complacency?’ I looked at them and said ‘how can it be complacency when we’ve lost three out of the last four?’
“There’s no complacency. It’s no longer the case that we’re unbeatable and other teams have shown that against us.
“It means we have to work hard. That target’s always on our backs, but now that target’s slightly different because teams know we’re beatable, so we have to play even better cricket that we would have to usually.”
Star opening batter Christian Leopard is available this weekend and should Tech beat CHB, they’ll progress to Sunday’s final at Nelson Park against the winner of the Havelock and Taradale clash.
Tech’s performances might be perplexing them, but Watson concedes they’ve been “good for the competition”.
“Taradale have been in great form since Christmas and they got some silverware in the weekend, Havelock’s got some silverware, we’ve got the overall and it’s all adding up to a great weekend,” Watson said.
He says he has huge respect for CHB, regardless of who’s available on Saturday, and is highly impressed with the cricket played by Taradale and Havelock this season.
“Their club is run so well. Robin [Dodd] does a fantastic job and they’ve got belief. They’ve started winning games and Sachin [Jayawardena] is playing a big part off the park as well, from what I gather,” Watson said of Taradale.
“They’re a team where everyone knows their roles and they have the luxury of putting out a pretty consistent team each week.
“I think their culture has come a long way. There’s no surprise they’re doing so well because they’ve always had a good team on paper, it was just about having that little bit of belief.’’
And then there’s Havelock.
“They’re full of stars. [Sam] Cassidy has been unbelievable this summer and you’ve got the likes of Lovepreet [Padda] back, Mabes [Oscar Mabin] is a great allrounder and has been a great addition to their team and then you’ve got Bettelheim up top,” Watson said.
“They’ve got big game players and role players and they’re a good unit.
“We always thought it would be between us and them at the end of the season and that might still happen. We have to get through Saturday first.”