Hear the Stags roar!

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Great kit, great campaign for the men of CD. Getty Images

The Mighty Men from the Cosmopolitan Districts, sometimes shortened to CD, were a tonic for an ailing hack (see last tear-jerking newsletter for context).

I didn’t give them much chance of beating Canterbury, as this quote from above-referenced newsletter ‘hints’ at: “With a playing XI that has 10 internationals, it would be a shock if Canterbury didn’t win the whole thing from here.”

Consider me shocked as CD won by a comfortable six wickets with a luxurious 16 balls to spare.

I assembled some thoughts as I watched the men’s final.

1. While beyond happy for CD, they were given a massive assist by Canterbury who got plenty wrong in this final, including going in with five batters. That’s fine if those batters include Fleming, Astle, McMillan, Harris and Cairns, but it’s a bold strategy when Cole McConchie, who has struggled with the bat this campaign, is No5 and Henry Shipley(!) is No6.

2. Canterbury seemed to be stuck on a single-track plan. Turn up, watch Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke lay waste to CD, lift the trophy, crack open a Rheineck, fly home. They had at least one too many bowlers. Shipley (1-5) bowled one over. Zak Foulkes (0-17) bowled eight balls. McConchie, on a pitch that offered a bit to the spinners, didn’t roll his arm over.

3. It was clearly a tricky wicket, but there was a lack of urgency in their innings that was mystifying. Daryl Mitchell, pick of the batters with 46 from 38, turned down multiple opportunities for twos in order, I presume, to farm the strike.

4. Watching how CD limited them to 135 with a clever combination of darting spin and into the wicket seam should have been instructive, but it was mostly ignored. It was especially surprising to see Henry, who had been unplayable a day earlier, as he has been for the bulk of his tournament, go full and straight at Will Young.

5. Perhaps there is just something about Canterbury and finals. They’ve made eight of these now. Only Auckland, with nine, have appeared in more. They have converted those eight finals into one title. Here are the other associations who have more: all of them.

There were a couple of other things about Canterbury’s performance that were a little perplexing, but as I parsed my notes, it became clear that I’d barely jotted a thing down about CD’s performance.

That is a compliment, I think.

It was just a thoroughly professional, considered and energetic performance. If you want to pinpoint just one thing that demonstrates the difference between the two teams on the day, compare and contrast the running between the wickets in the Young-Dane Cleaver partnership with that of Canterbury’s innings.

CD’s was the sort of performance you’d expect from a team full of internationals, completely comfortable in the game plan and their specific roles in it. Instead they were a collection of minor association veterans (Angus Schaw), young thrusters hoping to make their mark on the professional game (Toby Findlay, Curtis Heaphy and Will Clark), or something in between (Jack Boyle, Brett Randell and Jayden Lennox). They housed one current international (Young) and a few former Black Caps wondering if they’ll ever get another crack (Tom Bruce, Cleaver and Blair Tickner).

To top it off, those retro CD tops were mint as well and a must for any discerning sports fan of the region. Top marks for that NZC initiative.

***

You had to be gutted for Otago who fell eight runs short of Wellington’s modest 104 for 8 in the women’s final. What would have been doubly hurtful is that they got no advantage for finishing first, beyond a direct entry into the final.

They had to meet Wellington, who have been the domestic gold standard for the best part of a decade, in Wellington despite finishing ahead of them in the table. I understand the concept of a finals weekend, particularly when it comes to costs, but it didn’t work and it wasn’t fair.

Let the teams that earned it play in the big dance in front of their fans, friends and family.

Otago were ripped off… (and I’m not just saying that because I’m heading to Sunny Dunedin this week, health pending).