Five members of the Wellington-Tasman Over-50 cricket side have been selected for the North Island v South Island series in Christchurch next month.

The sides will meet at the Willows on Friday February 25th and two days later at Heathcote Valley Cricket Club.

The North-South sides were selected following the recent Over-50's Inter-Provincial tournament played at Cornwall Park in Auckland.

Eligibility is based on where a player first played their cricket and means four members of the Wellington-Tasman Firehawks - former BLACKCAP Richard Petrie, former Wellington and Otago batsman Scott McHardy, Eastern Suburbs player Hamish French and Nelson based Mason Robinson will all be turning out for the South Island.

Hutt District player Stephen Hewson is the only Firewhawks player in the North Island side.

The Firehawks, who were the defending champions, finished third at the IPT tournament winning two of their four games with Auckland winning the title.

Over-50's representative cricket has taken off over the past couple of years with a second tier National Regional Tournament being held in Lower Hutt next month at the Petone Recreation Ground.

Four teams - Wellington, Canterbury, Auckland, and Districts (combined Central Districts and Northern Districts) will contest the tournament from Feb 15th-18th.

"The IPT is the premier Over-50 tournament but the influx of number meant there were a lot of players around the country who missed out on the chance to play in that," said NRT tournament director Dave Harle.

'The NRT provides the chance for more players to stay in the game but also enjoy the challenge of rep cricket."

"The standard of cricket will be competitive but it's also about fostering the game.  These guys want to win but just as important is the camaraderie and enjoyment," said Harle.

"Everyone is a bit more mellow than when they were in their playing prime and it makes for a marvellous atmosphere."

Wellington Over-50 NRT:
Graham Chote (c)
Darrin Thomson
David Goldingham
Rupert Crichton
Duncan Hutchinson
Tim Hyndman
Kirubalaratnam Nithyaganesh
Martin Pike
Steve Hart
Mike Watkin
Ron Heywood
Richard Calkin
Rev Fernando
Vish Vishwanathan

Article added: Friday 22 January 2021