The 2020 ANZ Junior Cup and Shield tournaments are due to get underway from Monday 16th of November.
With the regular home of this tournament at the NZC High Performance Centre at Lincoln University unavailable due to its use as a quarantine facility, this year it be played at Palmerston North’s Manawaroa Park.
The tournaments, Cup (boys) and Shield (girls) bring together year 7 and 8 students from schools across New Zealand representing the six major cricketing associations.
The ANZ Junior Cup starts on Monday the 16th with all teams playing each other in T20 matches over three days.
It’s a wonderful opportunity for these young players to test themselves against some of the best up and coming cricketers from around the country.
This year some teams will experience the tournament for the first time, Marian School (Hamilton), Waihi School (South Canterbury) and Queenstown Primary School are all making their first appearance at the tournament.
Saint Kentigern Boys’ School (Auckland), Hereworth School (Havelock North) and Raroa Normal Intermediate School (Wellington) are all regular participants in the national finals and will be relying on their experience to put their best foot forward.
The ANZ Junior Shield kicks off on Wednesday the 18th with the young female participants playing the same formats as the Cup players.
Many great players have emerged from this tournament to higher honours with the likes of Amelia Kerr representing their intermediate in recent years. There will be a Kerr connection this year with Amelia’s older sister and fellow WHITE FERN, Jess, coaching the Tawa Intermediate team from Wellington.
Alongside Tawa Intermediate, St Matthews Collegiate (Wairarapa), Balmacewen Intermediate (Dunedin), Tauranga Intermediate and Remuera Intermediate (Auckland) will all be looking to knock off the perennial powerhouse in this tournament, Heaton Intermediate from Christchurch.
Heaton have been victorious in this tournament six of the last eight years and will be looking to return to Christchurch victorious once again.
All fixtures are live scored on www.nzc.nz and on www.crichq.com
Name of Author: New Zealand Cricket
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
