Oamaru, headquarters of New Zealand’s second smallest Minor Association, is already getting prepared to defend their newly claimed Hawke Cup.
And, North Otago looks in for a good contest, with Hawke’s Bay having their Devon Hotel Central Stags available for the three-day challenge that will begin on Friday 26 February.
That includes pace bowler Blair Tickner and left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, fresh from taking a six-wicket bag in the Stags’ drawn first-class match with Canterbury at Saxton Oval. The third Hawke Cup challenge of 2015/16 happens to fall in the rest week of the Plunket Shield competition.
So while the exact team is yet to be confirmed, hopes are high in the Bay that North Otago’s second reign will be as brief as Buller’s first.
North Otago with their spoils
North Otago last won the Hawke Cup in 2009 — which was the first tenure for the small but passionate association.
They will be hoping their Oamaru-based South African spearhead bowler Francois Mostert can repeat his winning ways from the successful challenge in Westport last week, where he finished with a brilliant match analysis of 13 for 53 on an artificial pitch.
Hawke’s Bay, captained by Jacob Smith, won the right to a challenge by winning Zone 2’s Furlong Cup, sealed with a first-innings away victory over Whanganui at the weekend.
