Pearce Cup
A season like 2008 – 2009 for the Premiers would normally be simply remembered as a season that we were runners up in the Pearce Cup Final.
But this season will be remembered as much more than that, 2008 – 2009 will be looked upon in the future as the year that the mighty Unicorn awoke from its long slumber.
So much has been achieved over recent years it is very hard to put it all into context. From the redevelopment of the ground, to building a new electronic scoreboard, the new clock atop the club house, the financial stability of the club and the growing army of volunteers and generous supporters have all conspired to push KCC into a new era.
KCC has been able to capitalise on this further through the pulling power the club now has to attract promising young players such as Harry Boam, Tom Blundell and Vinnie Ward from
Aside from the huge amount of work many people have contributed off the field, the players within the senior squad have also been working hard to repay these contributions with strong performances on the field. An obvious massive success this season was the Senior 2 side gaining promotion into Hazlett Trophy for next season, although this report is for the Premier side, we operated very much as a “Squad” this year with many players appearing for both teams and the squad as a whole should be very proud of this achievement.
The Premier side played in every final available to it in Wellington Cricket, the Pearce Cup final, the one day final and two Twenty20 finals. Winning two and losing two was a disappointing outcome in itself particularly that the two we lost were the most important of the four (One day Final v Hutt Districts and the Pearce Cup final v Eastern Suburbs). However positives can be drawn from our overall strength of our squad and our consistency of our results in both the Premier side who only lost one fixture in the regular season against Onslow in the first game, and the newly promoted Hazlett side. Karori made all of the four finals available and on each occasion the oppositions were different clubs (Eastern Suburbs, Taita, Hutt Districts and Naenae Old Boys).
The premiers will learn from its setbacks this season and be stronger next season with the experience gained.
Many KCC members, probably the most ever in one season played higher honours for
During the season there were many superb individual performances of note, the first one that comes to mind is Stephen Murdoch. Stephen had a truly fantastic run of form that makes more appearances next season for the Firebirds a certainty. Stephen scored 3 100’s against Taita, Onslow and Easts, he went on to score 736 runs in the Pearce Cup averaging in the mid 60’s. In addition to this Stephen scored heavily in all Twenty 20 matches from the opening spot. Stephen will score thousands more for KCC over the years!
Lee Edwards had a typical season, nothing out of the ordinary for him, simply the best bowler in Wellington Cricket again with 48 wickets in Pearce Cup. Lee must be closing in on 500 wickets for the KCC premier side now, and who would rule out 1000? Lee missed out on a number of Trophy’s at the Club Prize giving only due to Stephan Murdoch’s unbelievably great season.
Simon Allen had a strong season although missing a few games in the start of the season he still scored 400 runs, took 21 catches behind the stumps and captained Wellington A, next season upon his return from travels he’ll be playing his first ever full season for KCC, unless of course Wellington come calling..........
Other very strong performances were commonplace all season from Hamish Templeton who scored well in the middle order, Jono Sole with the bat and won the Alan Graham Cup for best fielder in the club, Jarred Sewel who bowled and batted well all year and Neil Martin who had a strong Twenty20 season capped off by a superb 108* off 38 balls. I was extremely happy with 36 unexpected wickets, but disappointed with my batting after a good start to the season.
There were many more who played significant roles in the Premier side in a year where the senior squad was always mixed up to provide the strongest possible two teams. Players such as Mario Stoles, Charlie Gallagher, Ben Cameron,
Overall a huge season for KCC winning the club championship, the Premier side still unbeaten in ANY form of Twenty20, gaining promotion into Hazlett.
Next season the Pearce Cup competition is the one and only focus for the Premier side in a year where Cricket in
Senior two
Well it’s hard to believe that yet another cricket season has gone by, and I hate to say it but they do seem to go quicker as you get older! This season has been one of the most memorable for me in my cricketing career, especially while playing for Karori.
Back in the middle of winter the Senior Squad started training indoors at the Westpac Stadium, and it was clear from very early on that this year was going to be special due to the amazing talent that was clearly all around us. This was going to be the year of the Corn. From very early on in the piece, we tried to make it clear to the guys that we were spoilt for choice in terms of players, and that in terms of selections you not only had to earn it through hard work on and off the field, but it had to be the right selection for both the Senior and the Senior Reserve side. Throughout the season both teams have had a core of players, and there have been a number of players who have played ‘up and down’. Let me applaud all of you have been in this boat, I know from first hand experience how tough it is being ‘dropped’, and I want to make it clear that all those players who have played for me, definitely played their guts out whenever required – thank you.
The ultimate goal for us this season was the same as it has been for the last ‘x’ amount of years – win the Senior 2 grade and earn promotion to Hazlett. In the past under the leadership of Nick Hearn, we had come agonizingly close to doing this a number of years in a row.
I would like to pay tribute to my vice captain, and great mate, Nick ‘Lucky’ Hearn. Lucky has been the rock of our Senior 2 side for a number of years now, and I know how much this season has meant to him. He is affectionately known as Lucky, because in his career he has at times been unlucky! Season after season Lucky does the business on the park, both with bat and ball. This season included, he has bowled some fantastic spells, and he is a bowler that I know I can throw the ball to and more often than not he will deliver and take wickets. With the bat he can be so destructive, bludgeoning yet somehow gracefully dispatching bowlers to all parts of the ground. With the bat and the ball he consistently delivers. Thanks for your hard work over the years Luck, and for another outstanding year with both bat and ball, I look forward to sitting in the chair next to you.
But this year was never going to be about individuals. If we were going to reach our goal, we had to play as a unit. I think that this was evident as throughout the season no one person scored a century, or took more than 5 wickets in an innings. Some might look at this as being a negative, sure it would have been great to have these performances to celebrate, but I look at it as showing how much of a team we were. At some stage throughout the season, everyone contributed in some way.
The season didn’t start well for us, losing to East’s in the first one dayer of the season. But that was going to be the last loss for this side. From here on in however it wasn’t plain sailing! Due to weather and a few results not going our way in the two day fixtures, half way through the season and we found ourselves in the middle of the table, the best part of 35 points behind the leaders East’s. From here it was going to have to be a massive effort, and luck would have to be on our side.
After Christmas we started to get on a roll, winning was going to be the only way getting close to East’s, but we would also have to rely on other results going our way. From pretty early on we had pointed out that the two-day game against East’s was going to be like our final. If we won, we had a good chance of going close to winning the grade. And win we did. After a dominant performance on the first day, we had them following on and only the weather could stop us. Thankfully it didn’t, and we managed to get a 10-wicket victory over our rivals. The only other team that could potentially win the grade was
Batting highlights:
· The leading run scorer for this season is James Hill with 389 runs, at an average of 35. Jimmy made 3 50’s and had a top score of 76
· Second leading run scorer was Neil Martin with 360 runs, at an average of 30, and a high score of 81
· Third leading run scorer was Nick Hearn with 331 runs at an average of 37, and a high score of 77*
· The high score for our season was made by Ben Cameron, 87 against
Bowling highlights:
· The top wicket taker for this season was myself with 28 wickets, at an average of 13 and an RPO of 3.22 (some would argue over bowled!)
· Second leading wicket taker was Nick Hearn with 25 wickets, at an average of 17.8 and an RPO of 3.13
· Third leading wicket taker was Charlie Gallagher with 21 wickets, at an average of 8.71, and an RPO of 2.12
· We had two 5 wicket hauls this season, firstly Hamish Soper with 5 for 39 from 13 overs against Onslow, and Charlie Gallagher with 5 for 38 from 15.2 over against East’s
Those who have helped win Senior 2 in 2008/09:
Matt Atkin (c), Stefan Allen, Dustin Archer, Julian Balasingham, Tom Blundell, Andrew Brunt, Ben Cameron, Nick Earl, Rob Ellis, Charlie Gallagher, Nick Hearn (vc), James Hill, Simon Kent, Brendan Mahar, Neil Martin, Mark Palmer, Richard Petrie, Duke Pomare, Guy Simm, Hamish Soper, Mario Stoles, Fletcher Te Aika, Vinnie Ward, Hamish Wright
As I mentioned earlier, this season was all about the team and not individuals. We may not have accomplished all of our individual goals, but we did accomplish our team goal, winning the grade and gaining promotion to Hazlette. I also mentioned earlier that we had such a strong squad this year, and that is reflected in the number of players listed above who have played this season.
I am very proud to have been a part of this piece of K-Town history, and been very proud to have led this team every week across the white line. Next season is going to provide an all new list of challenges, and I am confident that we will more than hold our own in Hazlette, I look forward to a years time when we are playing along side the Senior lads in the final.
Till then I wish you all a safe and happy winter!
Cheers Matty A
2A
Well what promised to be an extremely positive season for KCC 2A turned out to be a bit of a struggle. Whilst some weeks we flourished with the help of players that had come down from reserves, other weeks we were short of numbers and predictably suffered as a result. That said, most of the time we enjoyed ourselves on the field and kept the serious/social balance the team has played with in previous years. Our final place on the table of 7th was not a fair reflection on the season, but did reflect our lack of ability to win two day games and therefore gain crucial points.
Our batting was certainly the most impressive part of our season, with Sam Donaldson, Tony Antipas,
The bowlers toiled away without much success, however Scott Henshilwood and Sam Donaldson contributed with over thirteen wickets each and Damien Le Breton and Mike Ryan were also dangerous on their days. Hamish Wright and Nick Earl also bowled with good consistent heat and definitely deserved more wickets.
A special mention also to Mike Ryan who leaves the club for
All in all I have mixed feelings about my first season as captain of KCC 2A. Somewhat disappointing results on the field but a tremendous group of guys to play with, meaning I enjoyed most weeks, which is I guess what its all about.
Thanks to everyone who helped with administering the team, particularly Damo who took the helm without complaint on several occasions during the season.