The Marlborough cricket team represents the

Marlborough Region Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. It is administered by Marlborough District Counci ...

of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is one of the 21 teams from around New Zealand that compete in the

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat ...

. Its base is in Blenheim.

History

Early years

A Marlborough Cricket Club was formed in Blenheim in late 1860. The first properly organised match in the region appears to have been held at Blenheim in January 1862, between Blenheim and Picton, in a paddock belonging to the Resident Magistrate, S. L. Muller. Picton won. Marlborough teams travelled to play interprovincial matches against

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in March 1863 and against

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in March 1866. Marlborough lost both matches, by 42 runs and 45 runs respectively. The Marlborough Cricket Association was formed in October 1886 by five clubs from Blenheim, Picton,

Spring Creek A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground Spring (hydrology), spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. The water flowing in a spring cree ...

, Wairau and Havelock. Apart from establishing a local competition, the main intention was that Marlborough should be able to host a match against the touring English team later that season, but that tour did not eventuate. It was not until January 1903 that an overseas touring team played in Marlborough, when the English touring team Lord Hawke's XI beat a Marlborough XXII by nine wickets in a two-day match at the Wairau Cricket Club's ground in Blenheim.

Hawke Cup years

Marlborough competed for the

for the first time in 1912–13, the third season of the competition, when the title was decided in a final match after preliminary rounds. Marlborough's scheduled preliminary matches were cancelled, and so the three-day final against

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

was Marlborough's first Hawke Cup match. South Auckland won by 87 runs. For Marlborough, Roy Pearpoint took six wickets in each innings. After the Wairau club ground was sold for development, Marlborough moved to nearby Horton Park, playing their first match there in December 1919 against the Thorndon club from Wellington. Marlborough won by an innings and 133 runs, Edgar Neale scoring 201.

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

, of which Marlborough is one of the eight constituent associations, began playing in the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octo ...

in the 1950–51 season. Marlborough's first player in the Central Districts team was Fen Cresswell, who played in their inaugural Plunket Shield match. His brother and Marlborough teammate

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

joined him in the team for the second match, when they opened the bowling together and took 12 wickets in Central Districts’ first victory. Between 1972 and 2002 Central Districts played nine Plunket Shield and three one-day matches at Horton Park. Marlborough have competed regularly in the Hawke Cup ever since 1913. They won the title for the first time in January 1968 when they defeated

Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zea ...

by 77 runs. The

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

player

Gary Bartlett Gary Alex Bartlett (born 3 February 1941) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played 10 Test matches for New Zealand in the 1960s as a fast bowler. Domestic career Bartlett was born in Blenheim, and grew up across the road from the town's ma ...

captained Marlborough, and scored more runs and took more wickets than anyone else in the match. Marlborough have since won the title twice: in February 1994, when they narrowly beat Manawatu, and February 2011, when they beat Otago Country by an innings.

References

{{Reflist Cricket teams in New Zealand Cricket in Central Districts Sport in the Marlborough District Sports organizations established in 1886