Cricket: Rotorua's Cameron Ingram makes Bay of Plenty debut

Rotorua's Cameron Ingram made his Bay of Plenty cricket debut at the weekend. Photo / Stephen Parker

When it comes to cricket, Rotorua's Cameron Ingram is ticking all the right boxes.

The 18-year-old has already proven himself more than capable of handling Premier men's cricket and now he has made his debut representing the Bay of Plenty.

Ingram achieved one of his many cricketing goals when he was selected to play for the Bay of Plenty development side in the first game of their Basil McBurney Trophy defence at the weekend.

"I was stoked [to be selected]. I was at school with a couple of mates when I got the message and I was going berserk. It's definitely a big step forward to where I want to go," Ingram says.

His debut could not have gone better. Bay of Plenty defeated Northland at the neutral venue of Bledisloe Park in Pukekohe.

Bay of Plenty won the toss and elected to bat. New Zealand Under-19 representative Fergus Lellman was in good touch with 47 runs off 68 balls. Batting in the middle order, Marcel Collett and Niven Dovey kept the runs ticking over.

When Dovey was dismissed, the Bay had some work to do being six down with 140 runs on the board. Ingram stepped up and alongside his captain Dominic Crombie made a useful contribution down the order, finishing on 15 not out. Bay of Plenty were removed for 189 with one ball to spare in the regulation 50 overs.

Bay of Plenty opening bowler Lellman put the Northland reply on the back foot, taking the first three wickets with just 22 runs on the board. When opener Bert Horner was out LBW to the bowling of Iman Singh, the team from the far north was on the ropes at 105/7.

Batting at eight, Mark Andrianatos belted the ball with defiance to post his team's top score of 54 not out, but Northland were removed for 155 to hand Bay of Plenty a 34-run victory.

Cameron Ingram in action for the Lakeland cricket side last year. Photo / File

Ingram donned the gloves at wicket keeper and took three catches in the second innings to round out a solid debut.

"I was really happy with the day I had, getting a not out is always good for the average. I came in with about six or seven overs to go. It was good to get the win as well, obviously, it was getting pretty tense there when [Andrianatos] was teeing off but the team kept their cool and it was a really good game to be a part of.

"We all gelled pretty well, I've played with most of those guys coming up in different representative sides so I've known them for a while and it was good to play together."

Having previously played in the Baywide Premier grade for Central Indians, who were the only Rotorua side in the competition in recent years, on loan from Geyser City, Ingram has been able to rejoin his home club this year as they qualified to field a senior team in the Premier competition.

Having already played some Premier cricket, Ingram is in the slightly strange position of being one of the more experienced players at Geyser, despite only being 18. Geyser were in the Bay of Plenty Cup on a trial basis but did enough to earn their spot in the upcoming Twenty20 Championship.

"As soon as I heard Geyser were going up I was stoked, it's definitely a big step for the club. It's definitely a learning curve for the team, learning the ways of the Premier competition.

"It is weird being a more experienced player in the team but it's added a new challenge and I still learn a lot from my teammates."

His ultimate dream is to make a living playing cricket and he is already in talks with English cricket club Bicester.

"It's a couple of grades below country cricket but it's still quite a good level. That would be around semi-professional, I'd get played to coach and play. It's definitely the dream so to get an opportunity like that is pretty unreal."

Bay of Plenty development's next games is against Poverty Bay on Sunday, December 1.

Northern Districts Basil McBurney Trophy - Bay of Plenty v Northland
189 (Fergus Lellman 47, Niven Dovey 27, Marcel Collett 21; H Kidd 3/24) beat Northland 155 (M Andrianatos 54no, B Horner 53; Fergus Lellman 3/22, Jacob Logan 2/19, Iman Singh 2/30).