Last weekend’s ups and downs are reported in detail below. For many members this weekend will see a break (welcome or otherwise) for Waitangi Weekend, with only the Championship and two Div 2 sides playing, while our T20 side have a Wednesday evening game.

MPCC Golf Day

Sunday saw an overcast day greet 23 teams of golfers for the MPCC Golf Day at Avondale Golf Club. Happily, the rain held off, and all teams made it back to the clubhouse with bodies and pride more or less intact! We were delighted to welcome several teams of players from outside the club membership, but the overall victors on the day were mainly drawn from Div 2 Black under the leadership of skipper Mike Beattie, who got home with a net 51.80 score. Pretty impressive for any of us who have seen Mike play golf before.

Thanks to Luke Piper and Hamish Robertson for the event organisation, and to Rory Hawes and George Devine for keeping the players fed and refreshed around the course. Thanks also to Richard and his team at Avondale, Richie Lay at Asahi Beverages and Nick at Peter Timbs Meats for their contributions to the day, as well as to those businesses that sponsored a hole, including the Brewers, EBI, Vistalite Canterbury and the Woodend Tavern. All these contributions made for a great day out and a valuable fundraiser for our club.

MPCC annual Juniors vs Seniors fun game – Thursday 30 January

Mixed adult/junior teams met for the annual new year contest at Edgar Mac. A great evening was had by all, except perhaps Masood’s younger son, who looked like he had a sore hand after his Dad hit a hard caught and bowled chance back to him late in the game (check out Max's video of the moment at around the 13.12 mark:

Good luck to all the junior teams, coaches and helpers as the second part of the junior season gets underway.

MPCC Trivia Night – Friday 14 February

What better way to celebrate the one you love than to bring them along to the MPCC Trivia Night! Teams are claiming their tables already so make sure to get your team of up to 6 together and entered ASAP. The event gets under way at 7pm on Friday 14 February, with teams of 6 battling for the coveted MP Trivia Champions trophy. $15 per person entry includes a free stubbie or soft drink. You can register your team in advance here: MPCC Trivia entry form

Meat raffles at The Brewers

Every Friday evening during the season, MPCC is selling meat raffles at our sponsor, The Brewers, in Merivale. All teams will take a couple of turns doing the selling - this week our Championship side are on selling duty. All club members are encouraged to head down at 5.30 support the raffles and our sponsor and get in some pre-match predictions for Saturday's games.

Thanks to our sponsors

As always, a huge thank you to our club and team sponsors, Sporting Edge, BBS Timbers, Bombay Tandoor, The Brewers, Burger Station, ITM Dyers Road and VIP Trade for your continuing support of Merivale Papanui CC. Your generous help makes a massive difference to the cricketing experience we can provide to our junior and adult members this season.

Congratulations to BBS Timbers Div 7 player, Tim Cridge, whose 86* vs Kaiapoi was his first half-century for the club and helped lead his team to victory.

Congratulations also to another BBS Timbers Div 7 player, Ayan Bhandari, whose 52* in partnership with Tim was also his first half-century for the club.

Congratulations to Masters batter, Andrew Zwies, whos 51* in his team’s victory over Burnside was another first-time half-century for MPCC.

Congratulations  to Sporting Edge Championship all-rounder, Harry Meehan, whose 84 runs vs Burnside was his highest score for the club. This was his third half-century of the season.

Congratulations to Sporting Edge Div 2 batter, Caleb Cottom, whose 53* helped steer his team to victory over Hornby.

Congratulations to Div 6 founding Panther, Joel Singer, whose 66* led his team to victory over Lancaster Park.

Congratulations to Rakesh Verma, who scored 50 exactly vs Burnside Masters.

Match Reports from Saturday 1st February

MP Sporting Edge Championship vs Burnside @ Edgar Mac 1 (1-day - Loss)

In what was a must-win game against Burnside for our promotion hopes, we didn’t exactly get off to the best start. After losing the toss, we found ourselves facing a big chase, with Burnside charging to 150-1 after 34 overs. While we bowled and fielded well, their batsmen showed a touch of quality, and we were left with just a couple of half-chances, which we couldn’t quite capitalize on. However, after the second drinks break, we started to show some fight. Leo struck twice, removing both of their set batsmen, and suddenly, we were back in the game. Taking regular wickets, we eventually bowled them out for 225 in the final over, which was a superb effort given the position we were in. Jake was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 9.3-1-40-4, potentially missing out on a five-wicket haul only because Tom Vesty sealed the last wicket with a run-out with 3 balls to spare. Leo picked up 2 crucial wickets in his second spell, and Sam snuck 3 wickets in the death overs. Overall, a solid bowling performance. Burnside’s total of 226 was about par on a slow pitch, so we were confident we were still in the hunt.

Chasing that total, we got off to a solid start. Alex anchored one end, while Wez and Lingy found the boundaries with ease. We were cruising at 46-1 when Lingy fell, but Harry and Alex then built a steady partnership, scoring around 4 an over and taking the score to 88 before finally Alex fell. This triggered something of a collapse, with 3 wickets falling for just 17 runs, leaving us under pressure. Harry was keeping his cool at the other end though. However, by this point the required rate had climbed to 6 an over. Leo played a handy knock, scoring a run-a-ball 22, but soon fell. Vesty came in, and the pressure mounted as Burnside’s bowlers kept it tight, pushing the rate into double digits. When Vesty went, attempting a charging reverse sweep, the task started to look tougher. Jake then stepped up after his promotion though, blasting a quick-fire 24 off 19 balls, including a huge six towards the clubrooms. But with the slow pitch, long boundaries, and tight bowling, we found ourselves needing 30 off the last 2 overs. Harry and Jacob managed 10 off the penultimate over, which set us up for a dramatic final push—20 needed off 6 balls. Harry gave us hope, hitting the second ball for six, leaving 13 to get off 4 balls. He then smashed one down the ground, but it was caught just inside the boundary. It was a brilliant knock from Harry, who finished on 84 and really deserved to see us home. But it wasn’t meant to be. Jacob needed two sixes off the last two balls, and despite a brave effort, we fell 11 runs short. Burnside are undoubtedly the strongest team we’ve faced this season, and while we played some good cricket, it just wasn’t enough. It’s tough to swallow, but we’ve got to bounce back next week and hope that Burnside drop some points as the season unfolds.

 Sam Gillespie

MP Sporting Edge Div.2 Red vs Hornby @ Denton 1 (One Day – Win)

MP Div 2 Red took on Hornby at the wonderful Denton Park. Beattie won the toss and inserted Hornby in to bat on a spicy looking deck. Hornby opened up with veteran Craig Waters (fresh off a ton the week prior) and skipper Tom Ravenscroft. Beattie started with a loose over, going for 8, but Nathan got straight into the act, dismissing Waters for a golden duck (after some relenting chat from the MP boys about thunder not striking twice were proven correct on this occasion). Beattie eventually found some consistency to have a wicket in the 5th over leaving Hornby 21/3. Lyle replaced Beattie and was unfortunate to not take any wickets on the day but bowled his 9 overs on the trot. George came on at Nathan's end and got an early wicket stumped, Jase and Ashton bowled the remaining overs but apart from Ravenscroft, the Hornby line up showed no real signs of making a score on a tough deck. Ravenscroft was top scorer with 85, and once he fell the last 5 wickets fell for 10 runs (Beattie and George doing some late-night burglary - George taking the last 2 wickets with the first 2 balls of his new spell) leaving Hornby all out for 144. Wicket takers for the day were Beattie 3/23, Columbus 3/21, Devine 3/15 and young Ashton Brown with his first club wicket, 1/1.

While 145 should be easy most places, Denton isn't one of those places. Pre-innings talks around someone in the top 5 getting themselves set, as Ravenscroft showed us, if you get in it is very possible to score big runs. We lost Louis early in the chase for 5, in the 4th over with the score at 9. Caleb and Tom batted very well together, putting on 62 before Tom was dismissed for a well-made 29 which put us in a strong position to chase down our first one day win, needing 74 off 27 overs. Caleb and Kyle put on a display of running between the wickets, ending up with an unbeaten partnership of 76 in just over 14 overs, making it look a different pitch entirely from earlier in the day. Relentless running between the wickets left Hornby with little hope, punishing bad balls when they were delivered to the boundary as Hornby crept in to try and stop singles. A comfortable win in the end, and our first of the one-day campaign. Player of the day was Caleb for his 53* in tough conditions. Very capably supported by Sloane with 36*, a strong contribution from all involved and good to get back to winning ways.

Mike Beattie

MP Burger Station Div 2 Black vs Lancaster Park Gold @ Bishopdale (One Day - Loss)

Burger Station Div 2 Black turned up again to Bishopdale (where some of our players now have squatters’ rights) ready to take on LP Gold. With Bellsy nursing a strong owie, another of our walking wounded took the captaincy, with Darren winning the toss and opting to bat first. Just like last week we got off to a good start, with Ash (23) and Shane (17) adding 50-odd for the first wicket before, just like last week, they were out within a few balls of each other. Richard followed not too long afterwards before Callum and Ranjith got together to add another 20 or so to the total. With drinks looming, however, Callum chipped to square leg and Ranjith incorrectly decided a square cut off the bottom of middle would be a good option, and we limped in at 83-5. With Darren having shuffled the batting pack a little, there were hopes of a rebuild, but the rapid disappearance of Basa and Hemanshu left Darren to bat with the ‘3 no. 11 Amigos’, a guesting Chris McBride, Dave and Jack. Chris hung around with Darren for a bit before chopping on for 1. Dave got off the mark with a flawless nick between keeper and slip, added a couple of more runs to his personal cow-corner heavy wagon wheel at the other end, and promptly advised Darren that their main spinner was probably best dealt with by a batter with MP runs in the many thousands, rather than hundreds. Long story shortish, Darren boofed a full toss for four, then nicked a peach to be out for 18, and Jack was undone by a deceptively straight one from their spinner, completing his 5-for. All out for 113 with at least a third of the innings still available was not what we hoped for. Just like last week, after initial resistance, our batting fell apart like a single-ply loo sheet dealing with the aftereffects of a strong curry. Like that kind of disaster, too, it’s not as easy as you’d think to wash your hands of the problem afterwards.

Unfortunately, if anything, our lineup was batter heavy, with only the 3 Amigos normally expected to get through long spells. Chris, coming off about 17 minutes of quality sleep in the last 3 months, took an over or two to nail down his preferred line and length, then chipped away, while Jack bowled some good tight lines apart from the odd wide or punished drag down. Dave replaced Jack but they were at 30-odd before Chris (1-27 off 6) hit the pegs. Other end, Dave had been attempting to induce a catch with variations on a theme of slower balls, between the odd dart at the stumps, and after 3 or 4 evaded the field, one was finally belted into Darren’s hands at cover to make it 84/2. The rarely seen ‘quicker ball’ added another LBW. A brief experiment with Hemanshu’s bowling ended a few runs to the worse when MPCC’s resident Mr Universe sprained an index-finger or some such, resulting in Shane sending down a few bombs, the loopiest of which struck the stumps. Maybe should have got him in earlier since we didn’t have our seasoned spinners handy. 99/4 plus a retired hurt was as good as it got as they finished us off a couple of overs later with Dave’s 2-35 and Shane’s 1-9 the only further blots on Park’s book.

Plenty of time for a debrief, which concluded we needed to score more runs and bowl more dots. Ash had, at least, had the foresight to pack the chilly bin with inspiration-juice to help us to those conclusions.

Dave M

MP Div 4 vs Halswell Div 3 @ Halswell (Forfeited loss)

Cricket didn’t seem to be the winner in this game.

MP Div 6 Panthers vs Lancaster Park @ St Albans 2 (Win)

Winning the toss, the Strikers elected to bat first, putting the Panthers in the field on a warm, muggy afternoon at St Albans Park. Opening bowlers Andy A and Isuka maintained tight lines, though Andy’s final over proved costly. The breakthrough came immediately after the first change, with Harsha making an instant impact—striking twice in his first over with sharp catches taken by Dean and Andy R. Max joined Harsha in an exceptional bowling display, delivering a miserly spell, conceding just eight runs from his eight overs while also claiming two key wickets. Harsha, relentless in his attack, finished with an impressive four-wicket haul. Young spinner Charan was next to test the Strikers’ resolve. The batters thought they could take him on - huge mistake. They tried to hit big, but guess what? They got caught out! Charan picked up three wickets, including a clean bowled dismissal, before Andy A returned to mop up the tail. The Southern Strikers were dismissed for 130, a competitive but chaseable total.

The Panthers took a bold approach with their batting order, promoting new faces to the top. However, the move backfired early. Dean was controversially given out caught behind, and Sunny followed soon after he struck a powerful boundary to cow corner. The collapse continued as Steve and Max departed cheaply, leaving the Panthers in dire straits at 4/7. Needing stability, the innings was rescued by the calm and composed partnership of AJ and Joel, who combined for a crucial 41-run stand before AJ edged one to slip for 12. Andy R then joined Joel, providing much-needed support as Joel anchored the chase with powerful stroke play combined with good running between the wickets. Despite visibly struggling with fitness, Joel dug deep, displaying remarkable grit. When Andy R departed for a well-made 23, after a remarkable 74 run stand with Joel, just seven runs were needed. But Harsha ensured no late drama, staying with Joel as the Panthers reached the target in the 38th over, Joel remaining unbeaten on 66. It was a gutsy win for the Panthers, who remain undefeated in 2025 and firmly in second place on the table, hot on the heels of leaders Ohoka. With momentum on their side, they will look to extend their winning streak next time.

Andy A

MP BBS Timbers Div 7 vs Kaiapoi Blue @ Sheldon Park (Win)

This week we faced off against the division leaders, Kaiapoi Blue, at Sheldon Park, which has become our secondary home ground. This marked our first encounter with them, as our previous match had been rained out. Frosty took over as captain for the match and won the toss, choosing to field first. His tactical approach was to frequently change bowlers, preventing the opposition batsmen from getting comfortable at the crease. The match began with Barrel and Pav opening the bowling attack. Barrel made an early breakthrough, dismissing their opener for 10 runs off 12 balls. Despite the efforts of Pav, Barrel, Blake, Keiran, and Frosty to maintain control, Kaiapoi Blue's strong batting lineup played some impressive shots, reaching 118 for 2 at the drinks break. After the interval, a bowling change brought Goutam into the attack, who immediately made an impact by clean bowling a batsman with his fourth delivery. This sparked a sequence of wickets, with Bellsy claiming an LBW in the following over. Goutam continued his impressive spell, taking two more wickets to finish with figures of 3 for 29. The momentum had shifted, allowing Pav to claim two wickets (2 for 27) and Frosty to secure two more wickets (3 for 17), restricting Kaiapoi Blue to a final total of 184. Given the nature of the pitch and previous matches played there, this target seemed achievable.

Our batting innings began with Nana and Tim as openers, though Nana fell early, caught behind by the wicketkeeper. Tim maintained a steady presence at the crease, with Pav offering support until he was bowled for 24. Kieran's stint was brief, falling to a thick edge, while Amen attempted to stabilize the innings but departed after scoring 7 runs. The game transformed when Ayan joined Tim at the crease. Their partnership proved exceptional, with both batsmen displaying excellent technique and communication as they built a commanding stand of 107 runs. Tim continued his fine form from the previous week, crafting an impressive 82 runs from 112 deliveries. Ayan, who had earlier promised Nana he would score a fifty, delivered on his word with a well-made 52 off 62 balls.

Performance Review:

Batting: Outstanding (A grade). While Kaiapoi had prepared strategies for our usual top performers (Nana, Pav, and Kieran), they were caught off guard by Tim and Ayan's brilliant display. Their visible frustration was evident when they were overheard asking, "What do we do next?"

Bowling: Excellent (A grade). Every bowler made valuable contributions and secured crucial wickets (with a humorous note that some of Goutam's wickets came from less-than-perfect deliveries).

Fielding: Above Average (B grade). Room for improvement exists in this department. As Nana aptly put it, "Let's play cricket, not football."

Goutam 

MP Masters vs Burnside @ Edgar Mac 2 (Win)

MPCC 196/7 beat Burnside Robbies 150 all out on Edgar Mac 2. A sense of home coming from a large portion of the Burnside squad as they faced up to MPCC playing their second physical "home" game for the season on the Mac backtrack. Overcast conditions turned hot and muggy prior to the toss, so when Dyer called incorrectly, P.K. chose the option to bat first knowing conditions of the pitch generally change during the day. A fairly settled lineup that had Zwies introduced after injury, showed strength and with pace on was able to get away with a handy start. Verma bullying Martin first ball through midwicket and away to the boundary, Bell having his own battle with Reid using the pace to find the backward point boundary a couple of times. Six and a half overs of strike and counter before Martin getting the better of Bell providing a soft shot to Jodie at point, departing for 17 (23) team score at 31. First ball to Hume picked up nicely and dispatched to the wide leg boundary indicated good things and when he also put away Reid in the next over the thoughts over being in with a grin came about. A savvy change of tactics from Dyer bring himself on to slow up the rate was quite masterful when it came to Hume, however, the same idea using Dave Harrison was not as successful with Rakesh believing in the see ball, hit ball approach, belting Dave out the attack after 2 overs. John Grant coming in from the far end proved to be inspired, as Verma bought up his half century off 36 balls then managed to pick out Reid patrolling the cover sweeper boundary on what could only be described as one of the worst balls I have seen John bowl, half-track, wide and absolutely begging to be put away... Verma disgusted with himself 50 (37) but 77 in the 14th. Zwies joining Hume but the momentum taken out of the game for the meanwhile, a clearly frustrated Hume 11 (29) tried to hit out but only resulting in a skyed leading edge off Dyer which was tracked down by Grant and secured with a diving effort in close, 83/3. Browne and Zwies making it to drinks without further loss and 90 to our names. Continuation after the break as Dyer bowled out and Grant set to bowl through, Browne guilty of not being Browne like giving a simple catch to Dean H at midwicket falling for 8 (22) off Grant in the 24th. Crimp also not finding it particularly easy to find the tempo of the pitch absorbed more pressure but did give time for Zwies to start to find his straps, playing with more confidence and seeing off Townrow and Grant and the first over of Reid, returning to the crease. It was that second over from Reid which produced the breakthrough, running through Crimp 8 (24) and battering down the castle 143/5. Pickle in, Zwies determine to run, partnership picking up 30 off just under 5 overs when Steve played the second to last Reid ball on for 13 (18), MPCC 173/6. Cartmell in for a short time 4 (3) LBW to Martin, 178/7, which left Mendis and Zwies to finish off the innings, Kellum 9* (12) and Andy bring up his own milestone 51* (69) in the final over off Mayo, innings score 196/7. Wickets shared around but best being Grant 8/0/35/2, Reid 8/0/40/2 and Martin 8/0/43/2, with mention of Dyer 8/2/16/1.

Almost 200 on the backtrack is a good score and has shown a great amount of work has gone into the deck which has always had the world against it, especially in recent seasons, Thanks Dakesy, your efforts are always appreciated...

The reply from the Robbies team was emphatic, Deano and Jodie able to pick off balls and peppering the cover/straight boundaries early, forcing the early pace off the pitch and compiling 50 in the 12 overs before Deano's vigil (19) was curtailed thanks to Zwies at short cover taking a blinder of a low catch off Mendis. A constant barrage of throws in from the field to keep the batters (Smith and Crowe) honest but making sure they were always on the move may have been a factor in the Smith dismissal in the 19th over, a lack of power from Jodie meant the lofted straight drive found RV's hands at Long On and a very good innings was bought to an end at 40. Burnside in a similar position to MPCC at the same stage 78/2, more so when A. Mayo was dismissed in the over before the drinks break for 2, same sort of departure as the previous, lofted drive to Long On this time Cartmell in position to pouch the catch, Browne rewarded early. 85/3 going into the break, as Reid cut away the one ball left for a boundary. A very quick drink in this case, Burnside advancing the score to 118 in the 25th, an aggressive Reid backcutting uppishly, picked out Browne at deep backward point/gully off Cartmell leaving the scene for 14. A quick twelve between incoming Grant and Crowe, broken when Cartmell snuck through Grant's (4) defenses, disturbing the stumps and calling it a day for John. This was the cue for P.K. to make an appearance... Immediate success called and was delivered as the set batter Crowe bunted to Pickle in short, his classy innings cut short at 43 and Burnside in trouble at 130/6. A bit of a progression of wickets from this point on P.K. being the chief destroyer mopping up the tail with a little assistance from Cartmell, Dyer (2), caught behind Bell, bowled P.K. Townrow (6), caught behind Bell, bowled P.K. Rooney (2) caught on the 45 by Frankie, bowled P.K. and Martin (9), who showed some resistance eventually dismissed at Long On by RV, bowled Cartmell, leaving Dave Harrison the lonely figure in the middle 1*. Burnside innings 150/10. Best of the bowlers, obviously Petros 5/1/15/4 and Cartmell 8/1/24/3, the other three wickets shared around. A bit of a reunion post-match as the usual dribble surfaced in the sun, a presentation of a car care package to MPCC man of the match Rakesh which was a pleasant touch from the Robbies boys, fines sessions on our own behalf and more money in the bank...

Cheers, Pickle. 

MP Bombay Tandoor T20 vs Riccarton @ Walter Park (Loss)

Riccarton chased down MP’s under par 45 in 8 overs, without losing a wicket. Not a great day by the look of it!

North West Youth Cricket Results (returning in 2025!)

NWY 1st XI (No fixture)

 NWY 2nd XI (No fixture)

 NWY Colts (No fixture)

 NWY 3rd XI Green (No fixture)

 NWY 3rd XI Black (No fixture)

 NWY Year 9A (No fixture)

 NWY Year 9B (No fixture)

 NWY Year 9C (No fixture)

Article added: Wednesday 05 February 2025