| Personnel | |
|---|---|
| Captain |  Jeremy Smith |
| Coach | Stu Slack |
| Team information | |
| Colors | Maroon and Gold |
| Founded | 1899 |
| Home ground | Whitestone Contracting Stadium, Oamaru |
| History | |
| Hawke Cup wins | 3 |
| Official website | NOCA |
The North Otago cricket team represents the North Otago region of New Zealand, with its headquarters in Oamaru. It competes in the Hawke Cup, which it won most recently in early 2021. [1] Its parent body, the North Otago Cricket Association, was founded in 1899.
In 1864 the Oamaru Cricket Club was established. The club represented the region in matches against touring teams from Australia and England in the 1870s and 1880s. [2] [3] In 1892 the Waitaki Cricket Association was formed to regulate and manage cricket in the Ashburton, South Canterbury and North Otago areas, but it soon lapsed. North Otago's first match, against South Canterbury in 1896, raised interest in forming another cricket association in the area, and in 1899 the North Otago Cricket Association was formed. [3]
Since the establishment of the Association, North Otago have played regular matches against other provincial teams and occasional matches against touring teams. [4] In 1927–28 Carl Zimmerman was the only New Zealander to score a century against the touring Australian team, when he scored 117 not out for North Otago. [5]
North Otago began competing in the Hawke Cup in 1958–59. They won it for the first time in March 2010 when they beat Manawatu by 159 runs, with centuries to Duncan Drew and Darren Broom. [6] Their next victory was in February 2016, when they beat Buller by 133 runs, Francois Mostert taking 13 wickets for 53. [7] This match was notable in that Buller and North Otago were the two Hawke Cup teams with the smallest population bases. [8] North Otago's third victory was over Nelson by 250 runs in February 2021. [9]
North Otago players are eligible to represent Otago in the Plunket Shield. Of those who have done so, some have also played for New Zealand, including John Reid and David Sewell. [10]
The Borton Cup has been awarded since 1920 to the winners of the North Otago senior competition. [3] Seven clubs currently compete: [11]
Oamaru is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Timaru and 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connect it to both cities. With a population of 13,900, Oamaru is the 28th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the third largest in Otago behind Dunedin and Queenstown. The town is the seat of Waitaki District, which includes the surrounding towns of Kurow, Weston, Palmerston, and Hampden. which combined have a total population of 23,200.
Robert Wickham Anderson is a former New Zealand cricketer who played nine Test matches and two One Day Internationals for the New Zealand national cricket team between 1976 and 1978. Anderson was born at Christchurch in 1948.
Ian Bruce Leggat is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in one Test match in 1954. His cousin, Gordon Leggat, also played Test cricket for New Zealand.
The Otago cricket team, nicknamed the Volts since the 1997–98 season, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864. The team represents the Otago, Southland and North Otago regions of New Zealand's South Island. Their main governing board is the Otago Cricket Association which is one of six major associations that make up New Zealand Cricket.
Centennial Park is a sports complex on Taward Street in Oamaru. The main sports played there are rugby union, cricket, and hockey. In 2007, the main ground was renamed Whitestone Contracting Stadium, after naming rights were granted to Whitestone Contracting Limited.
Michael John Froud Shrimpton was a New Zealand cricketer and coach.
The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat the holders, either outright or on the first innings in a drawn match, on the holders' home ground.
Darren John Broom is a New Zealand cricketer. Broom is a right-handed batsman and very occasional right-arm medium bowler. A brother of Neil Broom, he played Twenty20 and one day cricket for Canterbury and Otago. In the Hawke Cup, Broom played in North Otago's successful challenge against Manawatu in 2010, scoring a century in the second innings, helping them take the Cup to Oamaru for the first time.
An Australian cricket team toured New Zealand from February to April 1921 to play nine first-class matches including two against New Zealand. The Australians also played the main provincial teams.
The Southland cricket team represents the Southland Region of New Zealand. They compete in the Hawke Cup.
Richard Neville Hoskin is a former first-class cricketer who played for Otago from 1980 to 1993. Since his retirement from the game he has worked as a sports administrator and businessman.
Arthur Montague "Joe" Ongley was a New Zealand lawyer, politician, and cricket and rugby union player and administrator. Born in Oamaru, he later lived in Wellington, Napier, and Hokitika, before settling in Feilding. He excelled in a number of sports and Ongley Park in Palmerston North, used for cricket and rugby, is named for him. His most notable sporting activity was as a cricketer, and he played four first-class matches. He served as an administrator on the New Zealand Cricket Council and was the organisation's president. He was a solicitor and then barrister in Feilding, and became Crown Solicitor in Palmerston North. He was a member of the Feilding Borough council and was the town's mayor from 1913 to 1919.
Duncan Drew is a New Zealand cricketer. He played four first-class matches for Otago between 2000 and 2002.
Carl Zimmerman was a New Zealand cricketer. He played nine first-class matches for Otago between 1925 and 1930. He lived most of his life in Oamaru, working first as a teacher, then as a lawyer.
Herbert Norman Lambert was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Wellington from 1917 to 1933. He played twice for New Zealand in the days before New Zealand played Test cricket.
The Australian cricket team toured New Zealand in January and February 1881. The Australians played ten matches against provincial teams, nine of which fielded 22 players with the aim of providing more evenly-matched contests. Two further brief matches were played to fill the allotted time after a scheduled match finished early. As none of the matches were 11-a-side they are not considered to have been first-class.
The Marlborough cricket team represents the Marlborough Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It competes in the Hawke Cup. Its base is in Blenheim.
The Buller cricket team represents the Buller District on the north-west coast of New Zealand's South Island, with its headquarters in Westport. It competes in the Hawke Cup, which it won in 2016.
The Wairarapa cricket team represents the Wairarapa region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the 21 teams from around New Zealand that compete in the Hawke Cup. Its base is in Masterton.
The Canterbury Country cricket team represents the rural areas of the northern part of the Canterbury Region in the South Island of New Zealand. It covers the area east of the Southern Alps, between the Clarence River in the north and the Rakaia River in the south, excluding metropolitan Christchurch. It competes in the Hawke Cup and has its base in Rangiora.