The Buller cricket team represents the

Buller District Buller District is one of 53 districts of New Zealand, and is within the West Coast Region. It covers Westport, Karamea, Reefton and Inangahua Junction. Buller District's overall land area is . The district is administered by the Buller Dist ...

on the north-west coast of New Zealand's South Island, with its headquarters in Westport. 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 ...

, which it won in 2016.

History

Cricket began in Buller in the 1860s. In the early years of the 20th century the Buller Cricket Association was formed. It was granted affiliation 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 ...

in 1925. Buller players are eligible to represent

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

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 ...

. Several have done so, and three have represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Buller first competed for the

, the pinnacle of district cricket in New Zealand, in 1947. They have the smallest population base of any of the 21 Hawke Cup teams. Captained by Troy Scanlon, who took nine wickets, they won the title in January 2016 when they defeated Canterbury Country. Scanlon also took nine wickets when they unsuccessfully defended the title against

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

a fortnight later in Westport. There are four teams in the Buller Cricket Association: Athletic, High School, Ngakawau and Old Boys.

References

{{Reflist Cricket teams in New Zealand Sport in the West Coast, New Zealand