Nelson cricket team is a cricket team representing the Nelson Region of New Zealand. It played first-class cricket from 1874 to 1891, and currently competes in the Hawke Cup.
Cricket was first reported as being played in Nelson in the Nelson Examiner in March 1844, in a match between the Surveyors of the Land Company and Nelson.[1] Nelson as a representative team played interprovincial cricket as early as 1862,[2] later first playing first-class cricket in 1873-74 against Wellington at the Basin Reserve, becoming the fifth team to play first-class cricket in New Zealand. This match is also notable for having ended in a tie, the eighth time this had happened and one of sixty occasions overall that a first-class match has ended in such a result.[3]
Over the coming seasons, Nelson averaged one first-class match a year, all but one of them against Wellington, before appearing in first-class cricket for a final time in 1891 against Wellington at Trafalgar Park. Nelson played 17 times in first-class cricket, winning nine and losing seven.[4] Nelson used three home grounds during this period, all of them in the city of Nelson: Victory Square, the Botanical Gardens and Trafalgar Park.
The 17 matches were extremely low-scoring affairs. Only twice did a side reach 200, and on 40 occasions a side was dismissed for under 100. Nelson's highest team score was 238 at Wellington in 1880-81, when Louis Balmain, in his only first-class match, top-scored with 40, having also top-scored with 50, Nelson's first individual fifty, in the first innings.[5] Nelson's only other fifty was a 52 made by Andrew Bennett at Wellington in 1886-87.[6] The best innings and match figures were 9 for 43 and 5 for 20 (14 for 63 in the match) by Thomas Eden in 1875-76.[7] Bennett, in his only other first-class match, took 6 for 13 and 6 for 5 for Nelson in 1885-86.[8]
The origin of the "Nelson" superstition in cricket is unknown. However, in both Nelson's first[9] and last[10] innings in first-class cricket they were dismissed for 111 – "Nelson".
Nelson today compete in the Hawke Cup, which is played below first-class level. Nelson have won the competition several times, and hold the record for the longest period of holding the trophy, from December 1958 to February 1965.[11] They also held the title from 1979 to 1983.[12]
In 1963-64, defending their title against Waikato, Nelson made 632, a Hawke Cup record.[13][14] The record stood until Nelson beat it in 1983-84, when they scored 641 for seven defending their title against Taranaki.[15] In their next match, in 1984-85, they beat it again, scoring 649 against Wairarapa. The record stood until Manawatu beat it with 650 all out in 1993-94.[16][17]
The Nelson Cricket Association relocated from Trafalgar Park to Saxton Oval in 2009. The Nelson Cricket Association forms part of the Central Districts cricket team, which competes in first-class, List A and Twenty20 domestic cricket competitions.