Festival a big boost for Wanganui cricket

Wanganui's Zac Farmer bowls to an Eden Roskill batsman at Victoria Park yesterday. Photo/Bevan Conley

The stumps go into the ground this morning for the conclusion of the Wanganui Festival of Cricket as the finals of the Under-11 tournament will be played at Victoria Park.

The 30-over games have been played between Wanganui, Western Bay of Plenty, Wairarapa, Auckland's Eden Roskill club and two teams from Manawatu - White and Green. It closes 19 straight days of youth cricket tournaments at Victoria Park, which Wanganui cricket development officer Dilan Raj believes will further the evolution of some the district's key players.

The current Under-11 team is new to representative cricket, as last year's U11 squad under coach Jason Clark played in both the Under-12 tournament and the Under-13s representing Wanganui this month.

Raj said that particular crop of players have blossomed under Clark, and will likely do double duty again next year in both Under-13 and Under-14 tournaments.

"That, in the long run, is going to make a difference to Wanganui cricket because they're going to get some really powerful cricketers."

Just how much grass roots development is necessary was clear by the presence of Eden Roskill at the festival for the first time in eight years.

Raj said while the team comes from one club, the youth player numbers at Eden Roskill exceed all of those in Wanganui. It also gave the tournament in Wanganui a bit of a sub-continent flavour as the majority of the team were Indian New Zealanders.

"We're all Kiwis - there are a few of New Zealand European descent, and the rest are of Indian origin, second generation," said coach Prakash Ramasobramaniam.

Interestingly, the club's most recent New Zealand representative is fast bowler Brett Randell, who is off to the Under-19 World Cup next month.

Randell was at the festival eight years ago, which makes it more than likely he played against his current NZ U19 teammate, Wanganui's Henry Collier.

Ramasobramaniam said his boys had loved coming to Wanganui - as well as playing they had visited local sights like Kowhai Park, climbed the Durie Hill, and been "well looked after".

"I can't say enough, in a few words, how great this tournament is. It's a package and I feel very, very privileged to be part of the team here."

Wanganui and Eden Roskill fought out a tied thriller yesterday morning, as the Aucklanders made 116-5 and Wanganui finished on 116-8. Western BoP topped the table with 12 points, and will play today's final against Wairarapa or Manawatu White.