Another weather-infused week saw no premier cricket games played on the weekend for Howick Pakuranga.
The club’s general manager Francis Scordino says, “The Auckland Council contractors who prepare our wickets have been doing a fantastic job to ensure that most of our games have been able to continue, but obviously trying to play on grass has been almost impossible”.
This has been a particularly tough start to the season given that when the premier men do get to play, they are proving to be a dominant side.
After three rounds of the Tom Hellaby Two-Day Competition, Howick Pakuranga’s premier men have only managed one result with rain affecting the other two.
The side now sits in third place behind Grafton and East Coast Bays who have both had results in all three rounds.
With the commencement of two-day matches for 2022, HPCC’s premier men will begin the limited overs Jeff Crowe Cup competition on Saturday, where they take on Cornwall at Cornwall Park.
The T20 format is also almost here for the premier men, with HPCC hosting Papatoetoe in a local derby mid-week at Lloyd Elsmore Park on Wednesday December 7 from 5pm.
A domestic round for the premier women meant no games were played across the competition as all first-class players were unavailable.
“Overall girls/women’s cricket has been a huge focus for the club over recent seasons and we have more than doubled our playing numbers. We currently have two senior teams and five junior teams and certainly have plenty of young talented players in our system,” says Scordino.
A huge shoutout to Molly Penfold and Saachi Shahri, who were both selected in the NZ Women’s XI to play against Bangladesh in two limited overs internationals in Christchurch this week.
Despite two seasons of Covid interruptions, HPCC’s membership numbers are now the highest they have been for many years.
“The club has seen considerable growth, particularly in our midget U6 – U9 grades, which have seen a 40 per cent increase in players compared to last season. This is very positive for the continued growth of the club, but also reflects that cricket is still popular amongst players at those ages,” says Scordino.
Premier Men Hedley Howarth Two-Day Competition | Round 3
Parnell 181 (J Plummer 37, H Miller 35; S Cook 4-53) lost first innings against Suburbs New Lynn 182/5 (M Barry 82 not out; N Perera 3-53).
North Shore drew with Cornwall after rain abandoned day two of two.
Takapuna District drew with Papatoetoe after rain abandoned day two of two.
Eden Roskill 197/7 declared (H Chakraborty 63, A Bhardwaj 49; N Stobart 3-59) drew with Auckland University 164/7 (A Prasad 45, O Chakraborty 44; J Kumar 3-80) after day two of two.
Tom Hellaby Two-Day Competition | Round 3
Howick Pakuranga 149/0 (D Young 72 not out, B Walsh 70 not out) drew with Kumeu after rain abandoned day two of two.
Grafton 187 (D Taylor 31; B Smith 4-33) and 107 (S Gunawardane 43; L Delport 4-21) lost outright to East Coast Bays 181 (R Schierhout 36; F Campbell 2-30) and 114/5 (R Schierhout 55; D Taylor 2-9).
Waitakere 154 (S Variath 70; A Desai 4-22, D Kularathne 4-52) lost first innings to Hibiscus Coast 194/6 (R Lakmal 68 not out, D Kularathne 33; M Suri 2-21).
Birkenhead City 167/6 declared (A Jayampathi 79 not out; J Wilkinson 3-38) lost first innings to Ellerslie 168/4 (A Alam 42, H Drillien 38; J Newman 2-46).
Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club Fixtures 03/12/22
Round 1, Limited overs Jeff Crowe Cup- Howick Pakuranga Premier Men VS Cornwall CC Premier Men at Cornwall Park- 11am
Round 5, Prichard Cup Limited Over Competition- Howick Pakuranga Premier Women VS Parnell CC Premier Women at Lloyd Elsmore Park- 11am
