Disparity cause of major concern

DAMAGE DONE: Red Star players Chris Wendon, left, Richard Payton and Lance Gilmour with the ground covers which were damaged by vandals at Queen Elizabeth Park oval on Friday night.

The depth of talent has been stretched beyond breaking point in Cricket Wairarapa's Bidwill Cup two-day senior men's competition.

That much was evident from Saturday's play when in the two games played 54 wickets tumbled with competition leaders Greytown dismissing Kuranui Old Boys twice to claim maximum points and Wairarapa College finishing five wickets down in their second innings and still needing 20 runs to make Red Star bat again.

It is by no means the first time that Bidwill Cup matches have been so one-sided this season and the situation has drawn comment from the Greytown club expressing concern at the standard of cricket being played in the premier grade.

"With one round of two-day games left it is clear there is a major gap between some teams and others... it is hoped Wairarapa Cricket will look at how to ensure this competition remains competitive in future years," the Greytown statement said.

It was the slow bowlers who did the damage for Greytown when Kuranui Old Boys were dismissed for 98 and 124. Their only knock of any note in the first innings came from Tony Russo who made 42 from 34 balls, including four fours and one six. Mark Goodin, whose 38 came from 34 balls and included seven fours, was the shining light in their second "dig". Bowling for Greytown, Steve Coleman took 6-31 and 4-49 and Martin Reisima 3-49 and 4-55.

Greytown's sole turn at bat produced a respectable 226-7 with Mark Childs showing he has lost little of his skill. He was unbeaten on 70, made from 53 balls and including 10 fours and one six. Other useful efforts came from Liam Burling (39) and Tim Lucas (40).

Short scoreboard :-

Kuranui Old Boys 98 (Towgood 10, D.Dingle 6, L.Dingle 2, S.Patel 0, Russo 42, J.MacDonald 4, Goodin 5, F.Patel 5, D. MacDonald 3 not out, Blanchard 16, Mountcastle 4, extras 7; fall of wickets, 7, 17, 17, 43, 55, 69, 72, 74, 92, 98; Smith 6-3-5-1, Lucas 3-0-10-0, Coleman 11.4-4-31-6, M.Reisima 9-0-49-3) and 124 (L.Dingle 3, Russo 1, S.Patel 5, Towgood 13, D.Dingle 28, J.MacDonald 5, F.Patel 13, Goodin 38, D.MacDonald 0, Mountcastle 9 not out, extras. 6; fall of wickets, 3, 10, 10, 45,64, 64, 78, 99, 124; Smith 5-1-18-1, Coleman 17-3-49-4, M.Reisima 12-1-55-4) lost to Greytown 226-7 (Coleman 8, Kibblewhite 6, Lowe 15, Burling 39, Speers 24, Ross 7, Childs 70 not out, Lucas 40, G.Reisima 10 not out; extras 7; fall of wickets, 10, 16, 53, 81, 102, 102, 202; Russo 11-1-65-1, D.MacDonald 5-2-9-1, Mountcastle 3-0-15-0, J.MacDonald 6-1-31-1, S.Patel 7-0-24-2, Goodin 2-0-14-0, F.Patel 4-0-39-0, L.Dingle 1-0-12-0, D.Dingle 1-0-13-1) outright by innings and four runs.

Wairarapa College batted first against Red Star and apart from Lucien Burt's unbeaten 60 (96 balls, six fours) there was little to enthuse over and they were all out for 103. Here, too, it was the slower bowlers who prospered, with George Deans finishing with an impressive 5-19. Deans also shone with the bat, top-scoring with 43 as Red Star got through to 178-9. Troy Burling (42) and Robbie Anderson (40) were others to get among the runs. The pick of the Wairarapa College bowlers was Hamish Woolgar who maintained a steady line in taking 2-49.

Wairarapa College's second innings began more promisingly with Nathan Elliott (17) and Brad Griffith (25) putting on 32 for the first wicket but from 48-2 they crumbled to 55-5 and it seems that only the weather man can save them from outright defeat. Bowling for Red Star Jared Watt took 2-4 from his five overs.

Short scoreboard:-

Wairarapa College 103 (Elliott 4, Pepperell 1, Burt 60 not out, Griffith 14, Payne 4, D.Reisima 7, Woolgar 2, Wakeling 0, Finlayson 0, Birchall 2, Percy 0, extras 9; fall of wickets 4, 30, 63, 67, 90, 94, 94, 95, 99, 103; Jarvis 5-0-24-2, Anderson 5-1-15-0, Sigvertsen 8-1-32-2, Deans 11.3-2-19-5, Burling 4-1-6-1) and 55-5 (Elliott 17, Griffith 25, Birchall 8, Wakeling 0, D.Reisima 2 not out, Woolgar 0, Burt 0 not out; extras 3; fall of wickets, 32, 48, 48, 53, 55; Jarvis 5-3-8-1, Sigvertsen 6-0-19-1, Deans 3-0-12-0, Watt 5-2-4-2, Anderson 3-0-11-1) v Red Star 178-9 (French 1, Burling 42, Jarvis 7, Anderson 40, Deans 43, Wendon 2, Payton 0, Watt 13, Sigvertsen 15 not out, Gilmour 2; extras 13; fall of wickets, 2, 20, 79, 100, 113, 113, 140, 170, 178; Birchall 8-1-32-2, Percy 9-1-22-1, Woolgar 14-2-49-2, Finlayson 4-0-22-0, Burt 7-0-33-2, Wakeling 3.5-1-11-2).