Cricket: Bay of Plenty sides in action at Northern Districts tournament

The Northern Districts Senior Secondary Cricket tournament is being played in Gisborne this week. Photo / File

Bay of Plenty Coastland are aiming to defend their Northern Districts Senior Secondary Cricket title in Gisborne this week.

The side won the championship title for the third time in five years in December 2016.

Bay of Plenty Lakeland also finished in the Championship division last season when they were beaten by Northland in the battle for third place, after grabbing first innings points in the top four playoff.

The Northern Districts Senior Secondary Cricket tournament plays a crucial role in the transition of the most promising age-group players into senior representative and professional cricket players.

The strength of the Bay of Plenty Coastland challenge for the tournament title is shown by the presence of nine young men that have played for the Bay of Plenty development team in the last month. Josh Earle, Marcel Collett, Dominic Crombie, Craig Baldry, Fergus Lellman, Cam Riley, Rhys Mischewski, Iman Singh and Ben Pomare have all worn the uniform of the Bay of Plenty second eleven in the ND 2017/18 Development competition.

Bay of Plenty Lakeland also have a number of players full of potential, waiting to be unleashed, in their ranks. The Lakeland age-group cricket pathway has produced a myriad of Bay of Plenty representative players over the years.

ND Senior Secondary Cricket Tournament in Gisborne December 11-15

Bay of Plenty Coastland: Mikaere Leef (c) Marcel Collett, Sean Dykes, Fergus Lellman, Ben Pomare, Josh Earle, Daniel Price, Dominic Crombie, Iman Singh, Cameron Riley, Craig Baldry, Rhys Mischewski
Coach: Peter Swan. Manager: Steve Wineti

Bay of Plenty Lakeland: Louie Love-Parata, Tu Winsor, Ryan Neves, Juan Nieuwoudt, Bradley Wiggins, Connor Scott-Moore, Josh Simpson, Cameron Ingram, Shannon van Niekerk, Daniel Ford, Jarrod Mealings, Chris Tupea.
Coach: Manny Kumar