The Poverty Bay cricket team represents the

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the north ...

region of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

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 Gisborne.

History

Early years

Cricket was established in Gisborne in the 1870s. A Poverty Bay team travelled to Taradale to play a team from Napier in March 1877. Poverty Bay and the neighbouring region

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 ...

thereafter played each other regularly. The Poverty Bay Cricket Association was formed in October 1896. The touring Australian team played Poverty Bay in February 1914. It was the first visit of an international cricket team to Gisborne, and the Gisborne Borough Council declared a half-holiday for the first day of the match, a Friday, and gave a civic reception to the Australians on the Friday morning. The Poverty Bay captain, Len McMahon, scored 87

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

in the drawn match, and was later selected in the New Zealand team for the second match against the Australians.

Hawke Cup years

The

began in 1910-11. Poverty Bay played their first Hawke Cup match in April 1914, when they lost to

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

by 201 runs. After another unsuccessful challenge in 1915, they defeated Wanganui by three wickets in March 1919. They defended the title in Gisborne four times before losing to

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

by two wickets in February 1921. Poverty Bay have been a regular competitor in the Hawke Cup ever since, but have not won the title again.

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 Poverty Bay 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. The first Poverty Bay players to represent Northern Districts in the Plunket Shield in 1956-57 were Bernie Graham and

Ken Hough Kenneth William Hough (24 October 1928 – 20 September 2009) was a cricketer and association football player who represented both New Zealand and Australia in football. He also represented New Zealand in Test cricket. Hough was born in Aubur ...

. When Northern Districts won the Plunket Shield for the first time in 1962-63, Poverty Bay's Peter Barton was a member of the team. Poverty Bay and the other five Northern Districts association teams compete each season in two-day matches for the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl. The winner has the right to challenge for the Hawke Cup. Poverty Bay also compete in the Brian Dunning Cup, the 50-over competition among the six teams. The six clubs that compete in the senior Poverty Bay competition are Campion College, Gisborne Boys' High, Horouta, HSOB, Ngatapa and OBR. Most matches in the competition take place in Gisborne at

Harry Barker Reserve Harry Barker Reserve is a cricket and hockey ground in Te Hapara, Gisborne, New Zealand. Establishment The Gisborne City Council purchased the Turanganui Golf Course in 1962, and developed it into a housing estate on the Pacific Coast Highway. Th ...

, which is large enough to stage three matches at the same time.

References

{{Reflist Cricket teams Cricket teams in New Zealand Cricket in Northern Districts Sport in the Gisborne District Sports organizations established in 1896