Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Sideline Sid has returned to his first blog of the new year, not so much refreshed, as washed out by the constant rain of the last two weeks.

While the rain gods tried to wreck the holiday sporting calendar in the Western Bay, the resilience of organisers and competitors, failed to halt the majority of events.

The continuous rain relented on a couple of days, to produce some stunning Western Bay summer weather, which brought the crowds to Blake Park in their thousands.

The major recipient of one of the weather respites was the Bay of Plenty Rugby Provincial Sevens that took place on the second day of 2012.

The annual sevens tournament that was resurrected some six years ago has cemented its place in the New Zealand Rugby Sevens calendar.

Slotted in just a week before the National Sevens in Queenstown, the local event attracts the majority of the North Island contenders for the national title.

In addition Canterbury, who have again got serious about the abbreviated form of the game, have made the long trip north in the last two years to prime their troops for the Queenstown battles.

The local rugby union put on a professionally organised day with non-stop action, a big screen to catch the play up close and personal, and plenty of food and drink to satisfy all appetites.

The perfect weather, combined with a very modest entry of just five bucks for adults, saw a crowd in there thousands soak up the all day action.

There would be a few NPC first division rugby unions around the country, who could only dream about the numbers that turned up to the sevens at Blake Park.

For the record Taranaki defeated Canterbury to claim the Bay of Plenty title.

Just 50 metres away from the rugby fields at Blake Park, the HRV Cup cricket organisers, had little success in their continuous battles with the weather gods.

While game three on Thursday was played in front of a crowd of several thousand without weather interruptions – the other three encounters suffered from the rain with few spectators braving the elements.

The rain ruined the party on three occasions, when the best players in the country (and some from overseas) were set to showcase their talents, to large crowds of frenzied cricket fans.

A rain interrupted encounter on Wednesday saw the home team Northern Knights lose to the Wellington Firebirds.

However, the fans that braved the weather were given a real treat, with Sri Lanka superstar Mutiah Muralitharan on show in the Wellington team.

It doesn't get much better than watching Muralitharan open his teams bowling attack to former Black Cap skipper Daniel Vettori.

On Thursday, with the inclement weather abating for a day, the home side showed their true potential with the Knights putting in all together to crush the Central Stags.

The CD side simply weren't allowed to hit out by the Knights bowlers, and were bowled out for just 126.

The Knights victory was a walk of the park with the ND side getting home for the loss of just two wickets.

Former Black Cap Hamish Marshall posted his sides top score of 48 not out, with Brad Wilson reaching 43 before being dismissed by an absolutely brilliant piece of catching and fielding.

The only real winner over the four days of scheduled cricket was the Bay of Plenty Cricket Oval.

No other ground in the country would have an outfield that can soak up the rain in a couple of hours to allow play to take place.

Seeya at the Game