12 January Country perform well January 12, 2021 By Pam Fraser Sport Last week saw cricket wickets around North Canterbury host the South Island Primary Cricket Tournament featuring 14 teams, including two Canterbury Country teams, over five days. Matches were played in Rangiora at both Dudley Park and Southbrook Park, also Mandeville, Sefton, and Kaiapoi. The weather was good for much of the tournament, but it is a credit to the cricketing volunteers around the district, preparing the large number of quality pitches. In the initial rounds the Country Red team had a slow start with losses to Otago Country and Mid Canterbury, but then won their next four on the trot, against Country White, Buller, Christchurch Red, and Invercargill Metro. This put them into the top section where they lost to Christchurch Black and South Canterbury, to finish fourth overall. Otago Country were the winners of the Sir Jack Newman Trophy. Country White defeated Nelson, Southland Country and Mid Canterbury, and had defeats to Country Red, Christchurch Red, and Christchurch Black. They were in the 5th-8th group and defeated Dunedin first up, but lost to Christchurch Red, to finish 6th. Christchurch Red won the group and the Derek Cockburn Trophy. Southland Country were the winners of the Neville Hoskin Trophy for the bottom group. There were a number of individual good performances from Country players across the tournament. Gus Wiseman reached 25 runs or more on four occasions, with a top score of 69. Austin Earl also passed the 25 run mark three times, and also took a three wicket bag. Max Wood achieved 31 runs twice, and a three wicket bag too. Other batsman to score 25 or more runs were Henry Pratt, Jack Kelly, Jasper Welford, Sean Cresswell, and Sebasitan Pienaar. Pienaar also picked up a three wicket bag, as did Aroon Deb and Joseph Whalley. Canterbury Country were also hosting a second tier competition in Ellesmere to give more players opportunities to play representative and tournament cricket. Canterbury Country had six teams playing in the Shield competition, and they all gained good experience across the tournament. Related Articles Waimakariri is among the highest performing Councils’ in New Zealand A second AA rating from expert assessors of Council’s performance across New Zealand has reconfirmed the view of Waimakariri District Mayor Dan Gordon – Waimakariri has a stand-out Council. The Independent Assessment Board that oversees the Local Government Excellence Programme CouncilMARK™ described Waimakariri District Council as “showing that councils can consistently deliver high performance for their communities.” As part of the programme, the Council was assessed by an independent board of experts in key areas including ... Taking the girl out of the country… You can take the girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl. Former Silver Fern captain Julie Seymour was raised on Ashgrove St, in Rangiora. Sitting down to a cup of tea on a promising Canterbury spring morning, Seymour is reflective and philosophical about her 16-year national netball career, which earned her a Member of the New Zealand Order Of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday honours in 2003. This workaholic mid-courter played ... Country defeated Representative cricket was in action at Mainpower Oval on Sunday, with Canterbury Country taking on a Christchurch Metro Red selection featuring three Black Caps, in Tom Latham, Matt Henry, and Todd Astle. Metro batted first putting on 279/8 off their 50 overs, with Ken McClure top scoring with 93, Leo Carter 54, and Latham 48. The best of the Country bowlers was Daryl Mitchell with 3/35, including the scalp of McClure. The run chase ... Shakedown Cross Country Canterbury Athletics held their first cross country event since lockdown, the Shakedown Cross Country, at Ascot Park. The North Canterbury Athletics club had six runners competing, and they all achieved top 10 finishes. The youngest was Alice Barnes, competing in the U14 girls 3.5km event, where she finished 4th. The best finish went to Jo Ramsay, who won the W40 5km event. John Marshall also picked up a podium finish, with second in the ... Represent your Country! We can all represent our country The current lockdown situation is giving us a sporting chance to beat this virus. Despite the disappointment of seasons remaining unfinished, or not even beginning, we all know this situation is one that needs to be won, and if we all work as a team, we can do it. The effects are far and wide. Professional sports are on hold, the Olympics delayed. The level of training and preparedness for ... Compact Country Competition The leaderboard in the Country Cricket one day premiership is compacted at the top, with five teams all sharing the points. Weedons remain the only unbeaten team, having had the bye too. This weekend Southbrook were completely dominated by Darfield. They closed their innings at 105/9 with Jack Boyle the only resistance, scoring 30. Jackson Pauling enjoyed a four-wicket haul for only 20 runs. Darfield then reached the target only two wickets down, with Jesse ...