Cricket: Central's return to the Williams Cup final brings back fond memories

Central Cricket Club were the Williams Cup winners in 2007. Photo / Supplied

As Central Indians prepare for the Williams Cup final today,one retired Rotorua cricketer knows exactly how they will be feeling.

The Rotorua-based side take on Cadets this afternoon, their first finals appearance since they made three in a row from 2006-08.

While Central Indians came together as a combined entity only three seasons ago, both the Central Cricket Club and Bay of Plenty Indian Sports cricket, stretch back decades.

Rotorua's Crispian Stewart was the Central captain in 2006 and planned to retire at the end of the season. After being demolished in their first two games of the season Central went on an unbeaten run to meet Cadets in the final.

🏆🐯🔥1 Last Time...Get Around Us!🔥🐯🏆 🎥| The team representing us in the Bay of Plenty Cricket Williams Cup Final, remains unchanged from last weekend's washed out semi-final. 📍| Bay Oval, Tauranga. 🗓| Saturday 30th March. (Reserve day is 31st). ⏰| 12 noon. 🆚️| Cadets Cricket Club 👊🏽| We have wins against every Premier Grade club in the last thirteen months. We were semi-finalists last season. We won against two of the favourite teams during this campaign. Now, let's rise up one more time. #RotoruasOnlyPrems #RiseUpRiseUp #CICC #BleedBlue

Posted by Central Indians Cricket Club on Wednesday, 27 March 2019

"I'll be honest, I don't think we were ready to win the final in 2006. We bowled Cadets out for 130 and I thought 'we're in here'. We ended up getting 110, we came up short," he says.

Not willing to settle for second best, Stewart decided to postpone his retirement another year and it proved to be a good decision.

In 2007, Central were unbeaten all season, getting redemption against Cadets in the semifinal before dispatching Mount Maunganui in the final to claim the title.

"We had no superstars, nobody scored all the runs or took many wickets, we just scrapped away.

"They batted first and got 140-odd and we got it for the loss of four wickets. It was a cool moment after what happened the year before."

Stewart says it felt like his team needed to lose a final to win one, but this year's Central Indians side has the quality and motivation to pull it off at the first attempt.

"When I'm coaching junior teams now I tell them to remember the hard times, the losses, and how that felt. You don't get these opportunities very often so it's important to make the most of them."