Wanderers aims to stay at crease
As one of Nelson’s top cricket clubs faces up to its top-flight future, another is preparing to take the new ball out of premier exile.
Wanderers Cricket Club has declared a numbers crisis, following the departure of five frontline players and a decline in coaches and administrators.
A social media post said the club did not have the number of players required to field a premier side for the 2018-19 season, nor the off-field support structures to ensure that Wanderers Cricket Club was sustainable.
It said that unless the situation was rectified within the coming days, the club would have withdraw from the NCA Premier Cricket competitions, starting in less than two months.
Club captain Hayden Ingham said initial discussions had been ‘‘pretty positive’’, with a working group established to move things forward.
‘‘We’ve been battling for the last couple of years, to be fair, but losing five key players over the winter has kind of kicked us in the pants.’’
The Brightwater-based club has been a consistent performer in recent seasons, while also providing a solid supply of Central Districts and Nelson Griffins representatives. However, three players have left the region, including player-coach Evan Jones moving to Auckland, while retirement and club transfers have also affected this year’s roster.
‘‘With the Hawke Cup game against Buller last year, we had five guys in the rep team,’’ Ingham said. ‘‘Quality hasn’t been an issue, it’s just been numbers on the ground – it’s a little tough out our way.’’
While there was some talent coming through in the second grade, he said, the club was reluctant to put players into the top-grade environment prematurely. ‘‘The results may not be overly positive, and that would turn them away pretty quickly.’’
Ingham said the club would reconvene
‘‘Quality hasn’t been an issue, it’s just been numbers.’’
Club captain Hayden Ingham
this week before going to Nelson Cricket with some ideas on moving forward.
NCA general manager David Leonard said that while both entities were doing everything possible to ensure Wanderers remained a viable premier team, the reality was that time was running out to fix the situation.
‘‘We’ve tried hard not to set a date for this – our priority is just making sure they’ve got those off-field structures in place, which will ultimately provide the right environment for the players.’’
Motueka Cricket Club has faced a similar situation in the past, and has not fielded a premier side since the 2014-15 season.
President Gary Agnew said the club’s focus on providing solid junior and lowergrade programmes had kept overall player numbers up, and Motueka was confident of returning to the premier grade within the next two seasons.
He said Motueka had declined a request from Nelson Cricket to have a combined premier team with Wanderers this season.
‘‘We advised them we weren’t ready – it may something that’s looked at in the future if we can’t field our own team.’’
Stoke-Nayland club captain and premier skipper Brendan Hodgson said maintaining player numbers was an ongoing problem for many clubs, including his own. ‘‘Cricket is a pretty timeintensive sport.’’