Cricket: Cunis honoured in the best way

Northland retained the Bob Cunis Cup by pummeling Auckland by seven wickets, keeping the memory of the Northland great alive and well. Photo / Advocate Archives

There is no doubting that the memory of legendary cricketer Bob Cunis lives on in Northland, after the region's representative cricket team pummeled Auckland by seven wickets to retain the Bob Cunis Cup.

Cunis - whose son Stephen now coaches Northland - previously played for both provinces as well as Northern Districts and New Zealand, but it was Northland who clearly wanted to hold onto his legacy the most.

Stephen said the match was a special one for his family, adding that it was good to see it up-and-running after a break for a while.

"The old man was a bit of an 'Auck', which was disappointing," Stephen joked. "All of his best cricket was for Auckland, which was when he was in his prime.

"Then he played a fair chunk of cricket for Northland until his body packed in.

"For my brother Paul, and sister Kerry, we are really proud that the old man's name is bandied about when Northland play Auckland.

"He did a lot of cricket, and when you go to Auckland and the Auckland Cricket Society he's a very well respected man. There's a lot of honours boards and the like that say a lot about the old man."

With Auckland batting first in Sunday's match, they struggled as Northland's bowlers made life hard for them.

Stephen said players to particularly impress him were Mike O'Flaherty, Cody Andrews, Henry Cooper, and Kurtley Watson.

"You play against a team like Auckland and you see the bowlers just have a little more about them," Stephen said, adding that Northland showed a marked improvement from last week's game against Counties Manukau.

"They have a first-class 12, even though some were playing against Northern Districts [in the Plunkett Shield]. So, they had a few out but they still had six guys who have played, or play, top-class cricket.

"[At the end of the day] they still had a pretty good team but we still thumped them. It's good to play that game [against Auckland] because it gets the guys out of club cricket mode.

"They were a little lacklustre last weekend, it was a little above club cricket but our intent and execution was lacking."

Agreeing with Stephen's impressions of his victorious side was Auckland's coach Mark O'Donnell, who said Andrew, Cooper and Brad Kneebone were his players of choice.