The Mid Canterbury cricket team represents the
Mid Canterbury region 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 ...
of
New Zealand, with its headquarters in
Ashburton. Its governing body is the Mid Canterbury Cricket Association. The team competes in the
Hawke Cup. Until 1996 it was known as Ashburton County.
History
Ashburton County
Cricket in the Ashburton area extends back at least as far as the 1860s. An Ashburton team played a team from
Christchurch in
South Rakaia in October 1866. Shortly after the creation of
Ashburton County
Ashburton County was one of the counties of New Zealand in 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 ...
, the Ashburton County Cricket Club was formed in September 1877. It was dissolved in 1886 and re-formed as Ashburton Cricket Club. The Ashburton County Cricket Association was formed in 1896.
A 15-man Ashburton County team captained by Godfrey Harper played the touring
Australian XI
The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...
in March 1921, losing by 10 wickets. The team began competing in the
Hawke Cup in the 1950s, but never won the title.
Mid Canterbury
On its centenary in 1996, the association changed its name to Mid Canterbury Cricket Association.
[ The team won the Hawke Cup for the first time in February 2004 when, captained by Robert Madden, they beat Northland on the first innings.
The five clubs in the Mid Canterbury Cricket Association are Allenton, Coldstream, Lauriston, Methven and Technical.]
References
{{Reflist
Cricket teams
Cricket teams in New Zealand
Sport in Canterbury
Sports organizations established in 1896