The Hamilton cricket team represents the city of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

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 ...

. It is one of the 21 New Zealand teams that compete 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 ...

, and the only one that just represents an urban area. Its parent organisation is the Hamilton Cricket Association.

History

When Hamilton township was formed in 1864, cricket was already being played in the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region. Cricket was soon established in the town. The first Hamilton Cricket Association was formed in 1899. After numerous reorganisations of cricket in the region, in 1975 the Hamilton Cricket Association was established in its current form, covering the Hamilton metropolitan area and eligible to compete in the Hawke Cup. Hamilton began competing in the Hawke Cup in the 1976-77 season. Waikato had represented the area until 1974-75, and for most of the period before

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

South Auckland had done so. All three teams had

Seddon Park Seddon Park is a cricket ground in Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the fourth-largest cricket ground in the country, and is renowned for its "village green" setting, affording a picnic atmosphere for spectators. History Seddon Park was named aft ...

in Hamilton as their home ground. Hamilton's home ground since 2000 has been Galloway Park in Hamilton East. Hamilton first challenged for the Hawke Cup title in February 1978. They won the Cup for the first time when they beat

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 ...

in March 2001. They have now held the title five times, most recently between March 2019 and March 2020.

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 Hamilton 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.

Chris Kuggeleijn Christopher Mary Kuggeleijn (born 10 May 1956) is a retired former New Zealand cricketer. He played two Test matches in 1988–89 and 16 One Day Internationals for New Zealand in 1988 and 1989. He played domestic cricket for Northern District ...

, Hamilton's first captain in 1976-77, was one of the new Hamilton team's first Plunket Shield players. As well as the Hawke Cup, Hamilton also compete in the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl, the competition of two-day matches among the six constituent associations of Northern Districts, and the Brian Dunning Cup, the 50-over competition.

References

{{Reflist Cricket teams Cricket teams in New Zealand Cricket in Northern Districts Sport in Hamilton, New Zealand Sports organizations established in 1975