Cricket: Season promises thriller

IF THE Attrill Cup has shown anything, you can't count any team out when it comes to cricket.

Despite Tauranga stacking their team with Bay of Plenty, Northern Districts and Black Caps players, they were pushed by a Rotorua team who played with heart and will be disappointed they let a chance slip through their fingers.

This year's Bay of Plenty cricket competition promises to be a real action-packed thriller.

It would be fair to say Western Bay of Plenty teams will go into it wearing the favourite tags around their neck.

Four of the five teams were in the top three of all three competitions, with Rotorua's Central the only other team to grab a second in the Twenty20 cricket competition.

Otumoetai will be the team to watch, if last season is anything to go by. Winners of the Bay of Plenty Cup, they were second in the Williams Cup and third in Twenty20.

The side is captained by Jono Boult, who can call on his brother and Black Caps bowler Trent Boult to give any batting line up a bit of a shake up.

The club have picked up a couple of new signings with Josh Evemy returning from overseas and former Canterbury player Cory Anderson playing for the club. Matthew Drake is the only player from last season not returning to the club.

Greerton are another team to keep an eye on. The side, captained by Shane Wineti, were the winners of the Williams Cup and were third in the Bay of Plenty Cup.

The team lost a number of good players, with the retirement of Marcus Niles, Craig Budd leaving the club and Sebastian Braat and James Gruiters returning to Holland. The side have picked up a couple of exciting players in Cameron Neal, Tom Clout and Elliott Timoti.

Clout showed with his 4/29 he is a threat to any batsman when given the pill and Cameron Neal knows how to put bat to ball to give his side plenty of grunt when it comes to putting runs on the board.

Tauranga Boys College, captained and coached by Mark Orchard, were the winner of the inaugural Twenty20 title last season and also managed to share third in the Williams Cup.

The side have had a major overhaul this season with Clout, Neal, Elliott Timoti and Myles Timoti moving on.

However, Orchard has picked up a number of good players - Kayton Taylor, Logan Dench and Alex Stewart to name a few.

Mount Maunganui will be looking to add some silverware to their trophy cabinet after finishing with a second and a third in the Bay of Plenty Cup and Williams Cup last season. Captained by Mark Divehall, the side have lost the services of Logan Jackson, Jason Donnelly and Dan Phillips. But in return they have gained Ben Gould, Alex Gooding and Yohann Irani.

Although Te Puke did not grab a top three berth last season, they are always a team who are competitive. Last season they finished fifth and two sixths in the Bay of Plenty Cup, Twenty20 and Williams Cup. They are captained by Tai Bridgeman-Raison with Mitch McCann taking up the vice-captain's role. The side have lost Joost Kroesen, Paul van Meekerin, Dirk van Baden and Andrew McKay but have picked up Charles Williams, Matthew Dwight, Thomas Wansbone and Sean Gibson.

To say Central's season last year was disappointing may be a slight understatement. The side struggled to come to terms with an influx of new players from Eastern Pirates who no longer had a premier side.

Their best result was a second in the Twenty20 competition but they finished sixth, Bay of Plenty Cup, and seventh in the Williams Cup. But the signs look good for captain Peter Wood, having all their players return for another season. They've also gained Jason Trembath, who has returned from a stint overseas, Raj Patel, Lilesh Solanki and Ben Blackett.

It's been a bleak couple of seasons for the Bay of Plenty Indians after moving up into the premier competition two years ago. Unfortunately for the Rotorua side they hold the record of being bowled out for only 14 runs. The side could manage only a ninth and two eighth placings last season. However, they have a strong leadership in the side with captain Prashant Dhanjee and Sanjay Unka helping to steer them and they have picked up a couple of new players in Bipul Morarji and Vinay Chhagan. Let's hope the side manage to cause a couple of upsets this season.

It's always a hard slog for the East Bay United side with no real cricket competition to speak of in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. They do incredibly well considering. They have players like Alex Yates and Dean Butterworth who can hold an innings together, but no lower grades to help boost the player pool. The side will always be the team who are likely to upset one of the stronger teams on the road to the finals.

East Bay United finished seventh in the Bay of Plenty Cup and Twenty20 competition and fifth in the Williams Cup. The side's highlight last season was taking the Attrill Cup away from Rotorua.