Cricket Wellington has celebrated a historic year in the pathways system, which saw our U19 Women, U19 Men, and U17 girls win their respective tournaments, alongside the U17 boys placing second and the U15 and U13 girls each having very strong showings.

A bumper crop of results across all age groups shows Cricket Wellington punching above its weight as the Major Association with the second-smallest population. Despite enjoying our outcomes at the age-group level, our developmental philosophy isn’t strictly focused on winning.

Producing players for the Firebirds and Blaze, and ultimately the Blackcaps and White Ferns, remains the key strategic outcome across our development team. By this measure, Cricket Wellington has had a great season with many players going on to higher honours.

• The New Zealand U19 team that went to the U19 Women’s World Cup in South Africa featured four Wellington players – Georgia Plimmer, Natasha Codyre, Antonia Hamilton, and Kate Chandler.
• The New Zealand U19 Men’s team features Oscar Jackson, Alex Thompson, Ryan Tsourgas, and Oliver Tewatiya, with Will Julian on standby in the wider squad.
• Our Women’s U19 team graduated Rachel Bryant and Hannah Francis to the Blaze, each making their debuts this season.
• Muhammad Abbas on the men’s side is a bright light, debuting for the Firebirds as well as New Zealand A in the latter part of the season.
• Muhammad, along with Henry McIntyre and Oscar Jackson were selected for the New Zealand Development XI, playing games against various Provincial A sides over the summer.

Cricket Wellington’s Age Group MVP awards are given to the players with the most outstanding performances at their tournaments representing the region. The following players have received Age Group MVP awards for their performances at representative tournaments this season:

Spotlight Reporting U13 Girls MVP (Justine Dunce Trophy) – Thea Larsen

At the Lower North Island tournament in Masterton, Thea finished 1st equal overall in the tournament wicket-taking charts, which included an incredible spell of 4-0 against Manawatu. Thea finished the tournament with 6 wickets and a bowling average of 2.33.

Spotlight Reporting U15 Girls MVP (Sophie Devine Trophy) – Addison Jetly

At the Central District Year 9/10 Cricket Festival Addison was the tournaments leading wicket with 13. Addison had a best bowling performance of 3-18 and finished the tournament with a bowling average of 5.92.

riders&elephants U17 Boys MVP (Gavin Larsen Trophy) – Oliver Tewatiya

The return of the National U17 boy’s tournament in Lincoln for the first time in 3 years saw some superb performances, but none more so than Ollie’s. Ollie finished in the top 10 on both batting and bowling charts with 8 wickets at an average of 27 and with the bat scored 237 runs at an average of 59 and an impressive strike rate of 141.

 He also hit the most 6’s at the tournament with 12, nearly double that of the next best. Ollie was recently rewarded for these performances with selection in the NZ U19 squad to take part in the upcoming U19 World Cup qualifiers in Australia.

Spotlight Reporting U17 Girls MVP (Liz Perry Trophy) – Hannah Ryan

At the first North Island U17 girl’s tournament Hannah claimed the overall tournament MVP award after consistent performances with the bat and in the field. Hannah was the tournaments 2nd leading run scorer with 133 runs which included a best of 56 at an average of 44. To go with her 6 dismissals both in the field and behind the stumps, for good measure Hannah also claimed a wicket with the ball.

riders&elephants U19 Men MVP (Robert Vance Trophy) - Kevin Weerasundara

For the second year running Kevin was the leading wicket taker at the National U19 tournament. Kevin took 12 wickets at an average of 15 and was one of only 2 players to claim a 5-wicket haul, taking 5-38 against Otago.

Kevin’s performances were rewarded with selection in the Wellington A team in a rain-hit 3-day match just a few weeks ago.

Spotlight Reporting U19 Women MVP (Penny Kinsella Trophy) – Kate Chandler

Kate had a fantastic National U19 tournament where she finished in the top 10 on both the batting and bowling tables. Kate was the third leading run scorer with 255 runs at an average of 63, which included a composed 67* to guide the team home against Central Districts in a tight run chase.

With the ball Kate was 6^th equal, claiming 9 wickets at an average of 15. Kate’s performances saw her selected in the NZ U19 Women’s World Cup in South Africa earlier this year and continued selection in the Blaze team when she returned from the World Cup.

A special thank you to our sponsors in the pathways space, whose generous support plays a key role in allowing Cricket Wellington to produce cricketers playing for New Zealand. Thank you to our major women’s sponsor, Spotlight Reporting, for your seasons-long support of women’s cricket.

riders&elephants, Major Sponsor, and our Official Sponsor Silvester Clark are instrumental for the pathways and performance space, partnering with Cricket Wellington to pave the way for young cricketers to get greater opportunities within our pathways systems.

Article added: Tuesday 11 April 2023