The Counties Manukau cricket team represents the southern part of the

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland Metropolitan Area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Containing ...

, including the

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 ...

outer suburbs of Manurewa,

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, so ...

and

Papakura Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. Papakura is a M� ...

and the surrounding rural areas, and including Tuakau in the Waikato region. It competes in the Hawke Cup. Its base is in Manurewa, where its home ground is Weymouth Oval. Teams that previously represented the area in the Hawke Cup were Franklin (1957 to 1977) and Counties (1979 to 1994). Counties Manukau began playing in 1996.

History

Franklin and Counties teams

Cricket was played in the region in the late 1850s, and possibly earlier. The Mauku Cricket Club, which still competes at senior level, was established in 1859. There was a Franklin Cricket Association in the 1890s and 1900s, and the Warin Cup was instituted for competition between the region's clubs beginning with the 1911–12 season. The Association lapsed but was revived in 1921. Franklin, based in Pukekohe, was a part of the Auckland team's region until 1957, when the Franklin Cricket Association was 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 ...

, entitling it to field a team in the Hawke Cup. By this new affiliation Franklin also became a constituent association of the Northern Districts team, which had begun competing in the Plunket Shield in 1956–57. Franklin competed for the first time in the Hawke Cup in December 1957, and continued doing so until 1977. In 1969-70

Philip Havill Philip John Havill (born 8 April 1937) is a New Zealand cricketer. He played in two first-class matches for Northern Districts in 1969/70. A right-arm medium-pace bowler and left-handed lower-order batsman, Havill also played Hawke Cup crick ...

became the first Franklin player to represent Northern Districts in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

. Franklin were succeeded by Counties, also based in Pukekohe, who competed in the Hawke Cup from 1979 to 1994. In their first season they were 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), ...

batsman John Wright. Neither Franklin nor Counties ever won the title.

Counties Manukau

The Counties Manukau Cricket Association was established in 1996. Counties Manukau first challenged for the Hawke Cup in 2011–12. Captained by Luke Williamson, they won the title in the first challenge match of 2017-18 when they beat Bay of Plenty. They held the title against challenges from

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

and Canterbury Country at Weymouth Oval in Manurewa, before losing the last match of the season to Southland. Counties Manukau and the other five Northern Districts association teams also compete each season in two-day matches for the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl. The winner has the right to challenge for the Hawke Cup. Counties Manukau also compete in the Brian Dunning Cup, the 50-over competition among the six Northern Districts teams.

Clubs

In the Counties Manukau Cricket Association, 12 clubs compete for the Warin Cup (overall champions), the W. H. Taylor Shield (two-day matches), the Duthie Cup (one-day matches) and the Inder-Lynch Trophy (T20 matches): Clevedon, Glenbrook-Maramarua, Karaka, Manukau City, Mauku, Papakura, Pohutukawa Coast, Pukekohe Metro, Tuakau, United, Waiuku and Weymouth.

References

{{Reflist Cricket teams in New Zealand Cricket in Northern Districts Sport in the Auckland Region Cricket clubs established in 1996