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

A big occasion in Bay of Plenty Cricket takes place this weekend when the Bay celebrates 80 years of representative cricket.

Things were very different in the country when the first Bay of Plenty cricket team walked out onto Seddon Park in Hamilton for their first match on March 28, 1932.

That match was against South Auckland.

In 1932, New Zealand was in the grip of the Great Depression. There were riots in the streets of the countries major cities, as the large number of unemployed demanded government assistance.

Travel around the country was mainly restricted to coastal shipping or steam trains, with road travel creating long and tiring journeys, even from Tauranga and Rotorua to Auckland.

The Bay team certainly stepped onto the big stage in their first encounter playing the defending Hawke Cup champion in a Hawke Cup direct challenge match.

For the record the titleholders posted 333 all out, with the Bay being soundly beaten after being dismissed for 59 and 171 in their second turn at bat.

Cricket in the Bay of Plenty began in Tauranga with the introduction of the game by the 12^th Regiment, who were responsible for the establishment of the Military and Civil Cricket Club around 1866.

Early honorary secretaries were Captain Marcom and Lieutenant Campbell, who supervised the pitch at the Government Paddock and arranged games between the crews of visiting ships, notably H.M.S. Challenger and H.M.S. Falcon.

Obstacles to the continuance of regular matches were damage to the pitch by wild and domestic pigs, and uprisings in the surrounding countryside, which necessitated more serious activities for the soldiers.

Cricket was alive and well in Te Puke well before the turn of twentieth century.

The first recorded cricket match by a Te Puke cricket team actually took place in 1884, between a local side and representatives from Tauranga.

In a low scoring encounter Tauranga emerged the winner, scoring 44 and 45 runs in two innings, while Te Puke could muster only 19 and 28 runs respectively.

In September 1887, the Te Puke Cricket Club was constituted, with the President being Captain Evered and the first Chairman Mr George Lee.

The first match against Tauranga was lost by an innings. The new club's first success came against Katikati at the Tauranga Domain.

While the club played a number of matches each year, it wasn't until 1898 that Te Puke won their first match against a Tauranga side.

While the Military and Civil Cricket Club lasted just a few years in Tauranga – the Te Puke CC is alive and well, having celebrated their 120^th anniversary a few years ago.

In the mid-1980s, there were few cricket clubs in the country that could have competed with the Te Puke Premier side. A D G (Andy) Roberts and B L (Lance) Cairns both arrived in the then small Bay of Plenty town in the very early 1980s.

A teenage Chris Cairns joined his father for a couple of summers in Te Puke team, with New Zealand International Bruce Blair and Glamorgan player John Derrick, both holding player/coach roles at the club during the eighties.

However, the Te Puke Cricket Club, has always drawn on a loyal bunch of local players, who have been the nucleus of the sides through thick and thin.

Black Caps Mathew and Robbie Hart always turned out for the club when not on International or ND duty.

The same loyalty sees a young passionate group of youngsters turning out for Te Puke, in the current season's competitions.

While not always having the success some of their earlier contemporaries enjoyed, their turn in limelight will come.

Seeya at the Game.