Cricket Wellington Summer Season in Works

MEDIA RELEASE

9 October 2009

Full buffet of cricket for Wellingtonians this summer!

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Wellington cricket fans can look forward to a feast of domestic cricket this 2009/10 season, including an extended men’s four-day competition and a dedicated window throughout January for the new much anticipated HRV Cup Twenty20 competition.

HRV Cup Twenty20

A major highlight on this summer’s domestic cricket calendar is the HRV Cup, which will see the six major associations playing each other home and away for the first time prior to a showcase final between the two leading sides.

The timing of the HRV Cup, which begins on 2nd January with the final on 31st January, ensures the BLACKCAPS can represent their provincial teams and will add luster to the competition.

The inclusion of current Wellington BLACKCAPS players including Jesse Ryder, Grant Elliott, Iain O’Brien, James Franklin and Jeetan Patel, as well a host of former internationals and exciting up and comers, will see fans flock to the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve for high quality Twenty20 action.

As well as BLACKCAPS, the competition will boast a clutch of international marquee players such as current England international Owais Shah for the Firebirds, Tillakaratne Dilshan for the Northern Knights and Dimitri Mascarenhas for the Otago Volts.

The added incentive of winning the inaugural HRV Cup is a place in the lucrative Champions League event, which features the world’s best exponents of Twenty20 cricket.

Wellington hosts the Canterbury Wizards in their first home game at the Basin Reserve on Wednesday 6 January ahead of a match-up with the Auckland Aces on Friday 8 January.

They play their next three home games against the defending champions the Volts on Sunday 17 January, the Central Stags on Friday 22 January and the Knights on Sunday 24 January.

The matches on 22 and 24 January will be live on SKY television.

Cricket Wellington CEO Gavin Larsen is hugely excited about the HRV Cup Twenty20 season ahead.

“We are thrilled with the Firebirds’ Twenty20 schedule which includes two matches over the New Year period when many people will still be on holiday, two Sunday afternoon matches, and a mid-January Friday evening match,” says Larsen.

“New Zealand Cricket and the Major Associations are putting a big emphasis on the promotion of Twenty20 this summer, and with our Blackcaps available along with our Overseas Professional Owais Shah, it will certainly be an entertaining month of cricket.”

Four-Day programme

The four-day first-class competition has been extended to two full rounds of ten matches with the six major association teams playing each other on a home and away round-robin series basis, meaning an extra first-class match at home for the Wellington Firebirds.

“The extension of the four-day first-class programme to ten rounds is an excellent signal that the longer form of the game in New Zealand remains an absolute priority,” says Larsen.

“It’s the form of the game where our first-class cricketers develop their bedrock skills and it’s crucial that our players enjoy a solid diet of first-class cricket across the course of the summer.”

The Firebirds host the Canterbury Wizards, Auckland Aces and Central Stags in three first-class matches before Christmas. The Firebirds are at home at the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve for their first two games of the season, hosting the Wizards and the Aces over four days in consecutive weeks from 10 November and 17 November. They then meet the Stags from 12 December.

As in past years, the four-day season then takes a break for the one-day and Twenty20 competitions until the end of February, with January’s Twenty20 HRV Cup set to take centre stage after the New Year and the second half of the one-day competition to run throughout February.

Resuming in March, the Firebirds host the Northern Knights over four days from 4 March and the Otago Volts from 29 March.

Supporters of the longer form of the game can also look forward to two Tests at the Basin Reserve this summer, with the Blackcaps hosting Pakistan between 3-7 December 2009 and Australia between 19-23 March.

One-Day (50-over) Programme

The 2009/10 one-day season starting in December will see two fewer round-robin games, but includes a more comprehensive finals series. The Firebirds will play four home games ahead of a possible home semi-final and final decider.

The one-day competition will be contested throughout December and February, starting with the first two Firebirds home games on 17 December against the Stags and 20 December against the Wizards.

Resuming at the conclusion of the HRV Cup, the Firebirds then host the Knights and the Volts on 3 and 7 February respectively.

A preliminary finals series between the top four qualifying teams will be played on 13 and 17 February, and the final scheduled for Sunday 21 February.

Larsen says that this form of the game remains a pivotal part of the Firebirds season.

“Whilst the one-day 50-over competition has reduced to eight rounds, it is one of three trophies on the line that we’d like to see in the trophy cabinet. As we saw at the recent Champions Trophy, 50-over cricket is alive and well and the Firebirds are determined to produce more consistent one-day performances than they have in the recent past.”

Women’s Programme

The 2009/10 Women’s domestic season in Wellington starts on Friday 11 December at Barton Oval in Upper Hutt where the defending Twenty20 champions Wellington Blaze will play the Auckland Hearts in a Twenty20 fixture.

The Blaze and the Hearts then return to Barton Oval on Saturday and Sunday 12 and 13 December for consecutive one-dayers, ahead of two more triple-header Twenty20 and one-day fixtures in January at Kelburn Park and the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve.

They host the Northern Spirit at Kelburn Park over three days from 3-5 January and the Central Hinds between Kelburn Park and the Basin Reserve from 22-24 January.

The Twenty20 match against the Hinds at the Basin Reserve on Sunday 24 January is the curtain-raiser to the Firebirds’ HRV Cup Twenty20 fixture against the Northern Knights.

“The Wellington Blaze have a settled look about them and after the success of last season we’ll all be hoping for another top season from our team,” says Larsen. Coach Mark Borthwick has the Blaze gearing up extremely well and I know he’s very keen for another season of success.

“All in all I’m thrilled with the cricket schedule for Wellington, which of course also includes two Test matches against Pakistan and Australia, and an ODI and Twenty20 International at Westpac Stadium against Australia. It’s certainly a great season in store for Wellington cricket fans.”

For further information visit the following webiste: http://www.cricketwellington.co.nz ENDS

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