The Marlborough cricket team represents the

Marlborough Region Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is a unitary authority, both a distric ...

of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

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 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 ...

. Its base is in Blenheim.

History

Early years

A Marlborough Cricket Club was formed in Blenheim in late 1860. The first properly organised match in the region appears to have been held at Blenheim in January 1862, between Blenheim and Picton, in a paddock belonging to the Resident Magistrate, S. L. Muller. Picton won. Marlborough teams travelled to play interprovincial matches against

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in March 1863 and against

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in March 1866. Marlborough lost both matches, by 42 runs and 45 runs respectively. The Marlborough Cricket Association was formed in October 1886 by five clubs from Blenheim, Picton,

Spring Creek A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. The water flowing in a spring creek may additionally be ...

, Wairau and Havelock. Apart from establishing a local competition, the main intention was that Marlborough should be able to host a match against the touring English team later that season, but that tour did not eventuate. It was not until January 1903 that an overseas touring team played in Marlborough, when the English touring team Lord Hawke's XI beat a Marlborough XXII by nine wickets in a two-day match at the Wairau Cricket Club's ground in Blenheim.

Hawke Cup years

Marlborough competed for the

for the first time in 1912–13, the third season of the competition, when the title was decided in a final match after preliminary rounds. Marlborough's scheduled preliminary matches were cancelled, and so the three-day final against

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

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 ...

was Marlborough's first Hawke Cup match. South Auckland won by 87 runs. For Marlborough, R. Pearpoint took six wickets in each innings. After the Wairau club ground was sold for development, Marlborough moved to nearby Horton Park, playing their first match there in December 1919 against the Thorndon club from Wellington. Marlborough won by an innings and 133 runs,

Edgar Neale Edgar Rollo Neale (24 November 1889 – 25 July 1960), often called Gar Neale, was Mayor of Nelson, New Zealand, Mayor and Member of parliament, Member of Parliament for Nelson, New Zealand, a strong supporter of the Nelson Section, Nelso ...

scoring 201.

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

, of which Marlborough is one of the eight 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 the 1950–51 season. Marlborough's first player in the Central Districts team was

Fen Cresswell George Fenwick Cresswell (22 March 1915 – 10 January 1966) was a cricketer who played three Tests for New Zealand. Born in Wanganui, he was the older brother of Arthur Cresswell. He was the 50th Test cap for New Zealand. Cricket career Cres ...

, who played in their inaugural Plunket Shield match. His brother and Marlborough teammate

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

joined him in the team for the second match, when they opened the bowling together and took 12 wickets in Central Districts’ first victory. Between 1972 and 2002 Central Districts played nine Plunket Shield and three one-day matches at Horton Park. Marlborough have competed regularly in the Hawke Cup ever since 1913. They won the title for the first time in January 1968 when they defeated

Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zeala ...

by 79 runs. 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

Gary Bartlett Gary Alex Bartlett (born 3 February 1941) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played 10 Test matches for New Zealand in the 1960s as a fast bowler. Domestic career Bartlett made his first-class debut for Central Districts in the 1958–59 se ...

captained Marlborough, and scored more runs and took more wickets than anyone else in the match. Marlborough have since won the title twice: in February 1994, when they narrowly beat Manawatu, and February 2011, when they beat Otago Country by an innings.

References

{{Reflist Cricket teams Cricket teams in New Zealand Cricket in Central Districts Sport in the Marlborough Region Sports organizations established in 1886