Each year, Auckland's Cornwall Cricket Club organises and delivers the NZCT National Club Cricket Championship to celebrate club cricket and crown the best senior club side in New Zealand.
A new national champion is guaranteed in 2018 after back-to-back champions Eastern Suburbs, representing the Wellington association, was usurped in regional qualification by their local rivals Onslow.
Wellington Firebirds Malcolm Nofal will be in action for his Onslow club. PHOTOSPORT
Onslow joins North East Valley (representing Otago), Pukekohe Metro (Northern Districts), Napier Technical Old Boys (Central Districts), Burnside West (Canterbury) and Cornwall itself (Auckland) in the 2018 edition, but it's off to a damp start after the cold storm sweeping the country conspired to wash out the entire opening day of 50-over fixtures today.
However, matches are scheduled for each team every day this busy week, leading up to the big seeded finals day on Sunday 15 April, so there's plenty of time yet for the season-ending bash to get cracking.
Jimmy Neesham is out for southern supremacy. PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand Under-19 representatives, Auckland Aces, Central Stags, Otago Volts, Wellington Firebirds, Hawke Cup stars and even current and former BLACKCAPS like Jimmy Neesham and Jesse Ryder (rumoured to be bowling spin) all feature in this year's line-ups as they turn out for their club in the big event.
Teja Nidamanuru (left) was 2017 player of the tournament. Now he's an Ace. PHOTOSPORT
Teja Nidamanuru is back for a second consecutive year, after his performances last summer saw him crowned player of the tournament. But last year, he was repping the runners-up from Dunedin, in Albion colours.
This year, since returning to Auckland, he's stepping out for Cornwall, and with plenty of affection for the ground and tournament that set him on the path to his Auckland Aces white ball debut in 2017/18.
Stags allrounder Christian Leopard is back for the Texans, who last appeared in 2016
In the idyllic lee of One Tree Hill, it's free to come watch at Greenlane's Cornwall Park Cricket Club every day throughout the tournament.
UPDATE: Matches on day two of the tournament (Wednesday 11 April 2018) have also been abandoned due to wet conditions, gale force winds having blown covers off pitches and trees uprooted out of the ground overnight. The tournament finally got underway on the scheduled day three, Thursday 12 April 2018.
NCCC 2018 TEAMS
CORNWALL Michael Guptill-Bunce, Amit Dhadwal, Shastryn Nair, Dam Crooks, Teja Nidanamuru, Sam Anderson, Jack Cassidy, Scott Marra, Jamie Hayes, Lance Rodigues, Fanie de Villiers, Shaun Sievwright, Paul Thomas, Ben Naylor
NAPIER TECHNICAL OLD BOYS Liam Rukawai, Stevie Smidt, Jayden Lennox, Christian Leopard, Jesse Ryder, Indika Senarathne, Todd Watson, Izaiah Lange, Angus Philpott, Mattie Edmondson, Liam McFarland, John Drake, Robbie Brigham
NORTH EAST VALLEY Ryan Adam, Phillip Markram, Matthew Fisher, Tom Griffin, Llewellyn Johnson, Hunter Kindley, Will Kindley, Jamie Murley, Adam Miles, Corey Perret, Jimmy Neesham, Florian Schmidt, Declan Sua, Sean Dykes
BURNSIDE WEST Carl Huyser, Tinus Huyser, Alex Heenan, Liam Winn, JJ Naude, Matt Hay, Angus Harman, Matt Farrant, Will O'Brien, Joel Williams, Scott Inglis, Josh Peake, Jackson Latham, Alex McDuff
ONSLOW Sean O'Connor, Andrew Fletcher, Malcolm Nofal, Ben Shields, Calvin Harrison, Tim Robinson, Ryan Knott, Alex Ridley, Daniel Rose, Jack Sargentina, Arana Noema-Barnett, Jake Bannatyne, Tim Welgemoed
PUKEKOHE METRO Jonathon Keen, Simon Lal, Rishekesh Umasathan, Barry Rhodes, Katene Clark, Kevin Farrell, Ash Vodnala, Stan Skinner, Matthew Gardiner, Reid Somani, Richard Crosby, Kurt Barnes, Corey Hunter, Ben Reece
UPDATE
DAY ONE
Abandoned fixtures: Onslow v Burnside, Napier Tech v North East Valley, Cornwall v Pukekohe Metro
DAY TWO
Abandoned fixtures: Burnside v Napier Tech, North East Valley v Pukekohe Metro, Cornwall v Onslow
