Rongotea hosts backyard cricket event
Backyard cricket is about to get serious in Manawatu¯ .
The staple of the Kiwi summer is being transformed into a fullyfledged competition in the form of the Backyard Bash at the Rongotea Tavern on February 4.
It is one of four tournaments across New Zealand open to entries for teams of five.
Each tournament consists of eight teams.
Organiser Logan Strange said there were two spots remaining for the Manawatu¯ event.
Strange was in Palmerston North over the weekend to check out how preparation at the Rongotea Tavern was getting on.
‘‘It needs a bit of TLC, but once we roll it out, it is the perfect backyard venue.’’
He said it was important to have a venue that retained a ‘‘backyard’’ feel.
The rarely-used yard at the Rongotea Tavern fits that bill with houses on two boundaries and a chicken coop sitting at the bowler’s end of the pitch.
Rollers were at the pub on Friday in an attempt to help flatten out the pitch.
But early signs were that there will be plenty of spots for the spinners to target.
While it is the first time the tournament has come to Palmerston North, Strange has been involved in running the event for 10 years.
‘‘It is heaps of fun. It gets really competitive.’’
He said he has retained many of the rules he played under in tournaments in Napier.
‘‘It is all in scoring zones so you don’t have to run up and down the pitch and knock into people. So if you are injured, you can still play and it does not matter how big or small you are,’’ he said.
‘‘There is one hand, one bounce and we have batting power plays where boundaries are worth double.’’
Perhaps most importantly, any shots over the fences surrounding the 25 metre by 25m field on the full are automatically out.
That will be a challenge considering it is played using a tennis ball.
And unlike normal cricket, play will not be dictated by the weather - it will go ahead rain or shine.
The six-over matches are expected to last about 20 minutes each with each team to play six matches in pool play before the finals later in the day.
Strange said since it was a long day.