On higher pitch

Cricket action is hotting up in the South Waikato.

The senior men’s team finished in the B grade and now will take on the big guns in the A grade for the second half of the season of the Waikato Valley competition. Early February will see FVHS take on the best in the Waikato to see who will advance in the Gillette Cup school knockout competition.

Tokoroa juniors will again venture to Rotorua every Saturday morning to compete in the intermediate grade and already have produced two last-ball victories over more fancied teams. Several of the Tokoroa boys made the Rotorua rep team that played Tauranga before the Christmas break, showing they had the ability to compete at a higher level.

Two junior cricket evenings are being planned for mid-February/March and include games along with coaching and prizes. It is open to all children aged 5 to 10 years old.

The SWCA will again run the Business house T20 competition and are looking for new teams to enter. The competition will run for six weeks with teams only needing eight players aside. Played on Wednesday, the games are slow bowling only with each team getting 20 overs to make as many runs as possible.

Our Golden Oldie cricketers have had a busy time taking on other ‘‘senior’’ teams from a far such as Onehunga in Auckland. These games are 40 overs with six-pace run-ups and played on Sundays.

The second half of the season is promising to be a very good one with a form of cricket catering for everyone’s tastes but would like the support of players and the community to make it happen.