There is an extra incentive for the players in the two Attrill Cup games this Sunday to show early season form with Bay of Plenty set to defend the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl and the Hawke Cup in the 2013/14 representative season.

The Northern Districts Fergus Hickey competition kicks off with the annual ND one-day tournament in Taupo on November 10/12, with the Bay putting the NZ Cricket minor association prize of the Hawke Cup on the line in February 2014.

Two Attril Cup games will be played on Sunday. File photo.

The Attrill Cup is a long time BOPCA sub-association competition, where representative teams from four regions battle for Bay of Plenty sub-association superiority.

In recent seasons, the Attrill Cup had languished in stature with matches fitted in wherever possible in a congested calendar.

Last year the symbol of Bay of Plenty regional cricket superiority was re-introduced to the start of the season with a twofold purpose.

The early season Attrill Cup games double as Bay of Plenty selection trials with a second objective of returning the Attrill Cup to its status as a major piece of Bay of Plenty Cricket silverware.

The Attrill Cup is currently held by the Tauranga representatives, who survived a round three upset by 2011 Attrill Cup titleholder Eastern Bay of Plenty.

While both Tauranga and the Mount Maunganui/Te Puke combined team finished the round robin competition with two wins apiece – Tauranga won the 2012 Attrill Cup by virtue of defeating the combined side in round two.

Fergusson Park will host a classic Bay of Plenty inter-city match-up, with the Tauranga representatives hosting Rotorua.

The battles between the two Bay City cricket teams are always hard fought both verbally and with bat and ball.

In the other Attrill Cup encounter, Mount Maunganui/Te Puke who now play under the banner of Western Bay of Plenty will square off against Eastern Bay of Plenty at the Te Puke Domain

Attrill Cup October 13

Tauranga v Rotorua, Fergusson Park; Western Bay of Plenty v Eastern Bay of Plenty, Te Puke Domain.