The Bay of Plenty cricket team represents the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

region of New Zealand. It competes in the

Hawke Cup 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 t ...

History

Cricket has been played in the Bay of Plenty region since the 1860s and possibly earlier. A Tauranga Cricket Club was formed in 1868. A Bay of Plenty team, consisting of players from

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

, Opotiki and

Katikati Katikati is a town in New Zealand (North Island) located on the Uretara Stream near a tidal inlet towards the northern end of Tauranga Harbour, 28 kilometres south of Waihi and 40 kilometres northwest of Tauranga. State Highway 2 passes through ...

, visited

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

to play against four club teams over four days in December 1881. The current Bay of Plenty Cricket Association, the first to cover the whole region, was formed in August 1931. It was the 23rd association to become affiliated with the

New Zealand Cricket Council New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...

, and thus became eligible to compete in the

. Bay of Plenty were outclassed in their first challenges for the Hawke Cup, losing by wide margins to South Auckland in March 1932 and to Waikato (the renamed South Auckland team) in December 1938. Bay of Plenty hosted an international touring team for the first time in February 1936 when the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

played them in a one-day match at Rotorua. The Rigden Shield was inaugurated in 1944–45 for matches between Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay. Bay of Plenty won and held the Shield for the first two years.

Northern Districts The Northern Districts men's cricket team are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. They are based in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand (excluding Auckland). They compete in the ...

, of which Bay of Plenty is one of the constituent associations, began playing in the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

in 1956–57. The first Bay of Plenty player to represent Northern Districts in the Plunket Shield was

Des Ferrow Desmond Joseph Ferrow (29 October 1933 – 5 December 2020) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played in four first-class matches for Northern Districts from 1956 to 1958. Ferrow was an off-spin bowler who took his best first-class figures of 4 f ...

, who played in three matches in 1956–57 and one in 1957–58. The second was

Maurice Langdon Maurice Charles Langdon (12 October 1934 – 27 March 2022) was a New Zealand cricketer who played 25 first-class matches for Northern Districts from 1957 to 1965. Langdon was a middle-order batsman and medium-pace bowler. He held the record ...

, who began a 25-match career for Northern Districts in 1957–58. Cricket in the Bay of Plenty developed as the population increased in the second half of the 20th century. Bay of Plenty won the Hawke Cup for the first time in 1985–86, captained by the

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

player Andy Roberts, who scored 117 in the victory over

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

. The next season, after relinquishing the title to Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty became the first team to lose and regain the Hawke Cup in the same season when they beat Hawke's Bay again. Since then, Bay of Plenty have won the title in 1996–97, 2012–13 and 2015–16. They hold the record for the highest team score in the Hawke Cup: 701, which they have reached twice – in 2013 and 2017. The Bay of Plenty Cricket Association set up the Bay of Plenty Cricket Trust (now called the Bay Oval Trust) in 2009 to develop the team's home ground,

Bay Oval Bay Oval is a cricket ground in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand. The ground was built in Blake Park and opened in 2005. Bay Oval has hosted men's and women's international limited overs matches since 2014. It h ...

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of the Tauranga metropolitan area, located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completio ...

. While it remains Bay of Plenty's home ground, it is also one of Northern Districts' grounds, and is now also an international venue, staging its first

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in November 2019.

Structure

Three sub-associations make up the Bay of Plenty regional association: Rotorua Cricket Association, centred in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, Taupo Cricket Association, centred in

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wai ...

, and Western Bay of Plenty Cricket Association, centred in Tauranga. Eastern Bay of Plenty, formerly with three clubs, currently consists of only one club, Whakatane.

References

{{Reflist Cricket teams Cricket teams in New Zealand Cricket in Northern Districts Sport in the Bay of Plenty Region Sports organizations established in 1931