Christchurch Girls High School back to defend title - NZC

Christchurch Girls’ High School are looking to repeat last year’s effort and retain the New Zealand Community Trust Girls’ Cricket Cup as they are back again among the eight teams contesting this years secondary school girls’ cricket national finals tournament. This year’s finals, the 18th in the history of the event, will be back to its original location at Manawaroa Park, Palmerston North.

The eight teams have managed to knock out 120 other schools along the way to the finals. These eight teams comprise the winners of the contests in each association plus the runners-up of the two associations with the most entries, which this year are Auckland and Central Districts. The eight teams include: Westlake Girls’ High School, St Kentigern College, Hillcrest High School, Wanganui Collegiate, Palmerston North Girls’ High School, St Mary’s College, Christchurch Girls’ High School and St Hilda’s Collegiate.

From last years tournament there are four different finalists: Westlake Girls’ High School, St Kentigern College, Palmerston North Girls’ High School and St Mary’s College while the other four schools are all backing up. St Kentigern College and St Mary’s College are in the finals for the first time.

This year’s tournament sees the introduction of the exciting and fast paced Twenty20 format. The eight schools will play each other in a round robin structure over the four days. The teams will play two games each day for the first three days with one on the fourth day to decide the 2011 NZCT champion.

New Zealand Cricket Women’s Development Officer Sara McGlashan said: “NZCT Girls’ Cup is a great occasion for schools to hit out against the best and is a critical component of the player development pathway for secondary school girls with numerous White Ferns having played in the NZCT national finals tournament in the past.”

The NZCT national finals tournament will be opened at Fitzherbert Park at 8.55am on Monday, December 5 and the first round will get under way at 10.00am.

The draw for day one is:
Monday

Game 1
10am start

Hillcrest High School v St Hilda’s Collegiate
St Kentigern College v St Mary’s College
Christchurch GHS v Palmerston North GHS
Westlake GHS v Wanganui Collegiate

Game 2
2pm start

St Mary’s College v Hillcrest High School
St Hilda’s Collegiate v St Kentigern College
Palmerston North GHS v Westlake GHS
Wanganui Collegiate v Christchurch GHS