Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid

Cricket is enjoying a turn at the top of the sporting podium in New Zealand.

Our White Ferns won the Women’s T20 World Cup, and the Black Caps enjoyed a series sweep of India away from home.

There was little to suggest the colossal upsets the two Kiwi teams provided when they set out on their international campaigns.

The White Ferns’ victory came after 10 straight losses in the shortest format, and the Black Caps had never won a test series in India.

Local cricket attention over the weekend turned to the Bay Oval at Mount Maunganui, where the Bay of Plenty senior representative team kicked off their Northern Districts (ND) minor association representative campaign.

The staple of the ND representative season since 1932 has been two-day encounters, with the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl on the line since the 1969-1970 season.

Over the last decade and a half, Bay of Plenty have opened their ND campaign with a two-day match against long-time rivals Northland.

As the weekend match-up between Northland and Bay of Plenty approaches, Northland have a slight edge with six wins compared to Bay of Plenty’s five, with some matches ending in draws or being rained out.

Second-term coach Jono Boult, who recruited 11 debutants last year, stayed loyal to his selection this season.

While Bay of Plenty took out the first-inning points by a margin of 150 runs, the bare facts don’t tell the history and drama that emerged from the game.

Peter Drysdale, who was making his 130th appearance in the Bay of Plenty uniform, became just the second Bay player to score 4000 runs for his province.

A nice touch was that fellow team member Bharat Popli, who was the first to crack the 4000-run mark, was on hand to congratulate the long-serving Bay of Plenty allrounder.

The magnitude of the big mark is provided by the fact that the next-closest current player, Joe Carter, is 1500-plus runs in arrears of the Popli and Drysdale feats.

A reward for Blout’s faith in his mainly youthful selections from last season came with the fire shown by the Bay of Plenty tail.

At 204, with just two Bay players to visit the crease, the plan to bat all day seemed in tatters.

Enter Ben Vyver and Harry Burns.

Vyver reached 43 before being dismissed, which included seven fours and a big crack over the boundary ropes for six.

Burns combined with Drysdale in a 69-run, 10th-wicket stand before Drysdale was removed for 75, with the hosts posting 328 all out.

Burns enjoyed most of the strike and was stranded one short of a half century when Drysdale was given out by the umpires.

The Northland win was a scintillating start. However, the challenge for the Bay side is to continue the big start to the 2024-25 season.