Serving New Zealand's Current and Past Professional Cricket Players
NZCPA | Events | Masters Weekend
Queenstown reinforced why it is one of the worlds most magnificent tourist destinations with clear blue skies punctuating the views throughout the weekend at this years NZCPA Masters Tournament. This is the forth consecutive year the Masters Weekend has been held in Queenstown and it was great to see a record number of attendees at this year's event. Once again the local attractions were the draw card as teams arrived on Thursday and Friday in the lead up to the weekend tournament. Participants we eager to head off to Golf at Jacks Point and The Hills for a round in ideal conditions, although the spectacular scenery did not necessarily flow through to spectacular scoring. The remainder of players enjoyed the relaxing wine trails of the acclaimed Central Otago wine district in what was a perfect lead in to the official Masters Weekend Cocktail function held at the hotel. Saturday morning dawned with equally splendid weather and the teams headed off to the Queenstown Events for the first round of T20 matches. Winners from the morning round were ND, Canterbury and Auckland. Ricky Bartlett from CD top scored with 42, with Shane Thomson (ND) 35 and Brett Hood (ND) 38 also getting to the compulsory retirement score of 35. Darren Goodwin (ND) and Lance Dry (Wgtn) each took 3 wickets in the first round of play. The afternoon session is pivotal in determining the ability for teams to make the Sunday final. Canterbury made a statement of their aspiration to defend their NZCPA Masters Title when they nonchalantly chased down ND's more than competitive total of 164 in the 18th over. Gary Stead (35) and Warren Wisneski (46) were in dominant form and Shane Thomson again featured for ND with 42. Otago's small total of 113 proved too many for CD, ensuring Otago were back in with a chance to make the final. Shane Robinson top scored for Otago with 35 and Craig Auckram took 3 wickets for Central. In the remaining match Auckland won their second match by posting 163 to beat Wellington. Scott Golder posted the only half century of the tournament by hitting 25 off his final over to finish with 53. Sunday morning was more of the same weather from Queenstown, as if to prove a point that there is only one location to stage this event. Admiration of the Remarkables range and surrounding mountains was a fitting warm up to the final round of competition. Central were sent in to bat by Canterbury and were no match as the Red and Black's catapulted into the final as firm favorites. David Blake was impressive with 41 well hit runs for CD, a score that Paul McEwan surpassed for Canterbury, ending on 45. Northern beat Auckland in a dramatic finish to end tied with Auckland on points and Otago's 13 over blitz of Wellington's total ensured the net run rate rule would be required to determine which of these three teams would play Canterbury in the final. Otago can thank the speed in which they chased Wellington's total of 128 for getting them through. In the final Otago batted first and were off to a swift beginning with Andrew Hore racing to 29. Unfortunately for Otago Hore fell on the first ball of the fourth over and they never recovered to be all out for 90. Paul Rugg set the Canterbury team on the path to victory with a well constructed 44. The win was Canterbury's second title in a row and they extend the streak of unbeaten matches to 8 at the NZCPA Masters tournament. Shane Thomson was named as the Player of the Tournament. Shane made it through to the compulsory retirement score in each of the matches he played with scores of 35, 42, and 35. This year was the first time a tournament team was selected by the selectors Artie Dick, Robert Anderson and Kerry Walmsley. The inaugural NZCPA Masters Tournament team isAndrew Hore - Otago (capt)Scott Golder - WellingtonPaul McEwan - CanterburyShane Thomson - NDGary Stead - CanterburyAdrian Dale - AucklandCraig Pryor - AucklandBrett Hood - NDAndrew Nuttal - CanterburyMichael Sharpe - CanterburyJohn Cushen - OtagoLance Dry - WellingtonThanks to the record number of partners and wives that added to the weekend and provided support to the players and teams. The weekend would not be close to the success it is without the generous support of the 'North and South' Trust and 'Grassroots' Trust. We also acknowledge the support of the six Major Associations, Mercure Queenstown Resort and the Queenstown Events centre, in particular the ground staff, for there contribution to the success of the weekend. We look forward to next year's event which will again be held in Queenstown during the month of April. I am sure our team organizers, who have been magnificent again this year, and the NZCPA will be in touch again as soon as details are confirmed.
Final: Canterbury v WellingtonWinner: Canterbury 2010 tournament Report
report to come
Kerry Walmsley filed this report on the Mercure Masters Cricket Tournament (for 'past masters') held in and around the Devonport Domain in Auckland in late March and the first weekend in April.The tournament was organised by the NZCPA to support past first-class players. It ran from March 30th to April the 1st and involved many former domestic and international players from Auckland, Northern Districts, Central Districts and Wellington.The tournament launch at the Mercure Auckland on the Friday night gave the players an opportunity to reacquaint themselves with their old team mates and foes over one or two of the sponsor's product: ice cold Export Gold.Despite the amazing midweek deluge that hit the City of Sails, the Devonport Domain ground staff did a brilliant job of readying the wickets for action on Saturday morning.The tournament gave the past players a great opportunity to whet their appetite with the new concept of Twenty/20 cricket. It didn't take some players long to digest this foreign fare and display the skills that made them the pride of either their province or county in days gone by.The early games saw both Northern and Central Districts take care of Wellington and Auckland respectively in convincing manner. Mark Bailey and James Pamment proved they hadn't lost their touch, despite some resilience from Wellington's Andrew Jones. Meanwhile the Central bowlers reduced Auckland to a paltry 44 and had no problems chasing these down at break-neck speed. Throughout the day, the players were kept hydrated by 420 Volcanic spring water.The afternoon games saw the wickets dry out which aided the shot-making. As a result both the teams batting first posted much more competitive totals for their bowlers to defend. Bryan Young and Simon Doull made yet another consistent contribution for Northern Districts as they won their game with two balls to spare despite some hard hitting from Auckland's Trevor Franklin. In the corresponding match the strong Wellington team couldn't quite get past the total set by Central Districts. This match was highlighted by some surprisingly stellar bowling by ex-NZ wicket keeper, Tony Blain and some huge sixes by leg spinner, Greg Loveridge.The Saturday night barbeque saw the tournament's key sponsor Mercure get an opportunity to meet the past players and talk about what it meant to these players to have represented their province or country. As Sunday morning dawned, the two finalists had sorted themselves out and it was to be a battle of the Districts, Central versus Northern. In an earlier match, Auckland played Wellington for third and fourth which resulted in Auckland posting their first win. The star-studded Wellington team left the tournament winless, something that hurt captain Richard Petrie very deeply, which only added to his pain after suffering a trapped nerve towards the end of their final match. Luckily former Central Districts wicket keeper, Martyn Sigley, was on hand to unleash his physio skills.In the final, Northern won the toss and inserted Central. Simon Doull appeared to be running in a bit harder and was well supported by Mark Bailey at the start of the Central innings. The innings never really gained momentum with wickets being lost at consistent intervals and a total of 105 was posted for the Northern boys to chase down. They obliged in pretty convincing fashion through some classy batting from Bryan Young and a bullish 50 by Sean Lambley. Mark Bailey hit the winning runs with a cameo 24*. Mark's consistent performances with both bat and ball, along with his safe hands in the field, saw him take out the Samsung Player of the Tournament.So Northern Districts were the Mercure Masters Cricket Champions for 2007 and look forward to defending their title next year. The NZCPA sincerely thank the support from Mercure, Samsung, 420 and Export Gold. We would also like to acknowledge the support from the four major associations that attended the tournament.
