Six new life members of the Central Districts Cricket Association have been inducted at the 2019 Annual General Meeting, held in Napier on Saturday 9 November.

The 70th AGM saw the induction of former Central Hinds and WHITE FERNS captain Aimee Watkins; NZC Match Referee and former CD captain Richard Hayward; CDCA Operations Manager and former CD allrounder Scott Briasco;  longserving CDCA administrator Gary Pond; sports psychologist and Professor Emeritus Gary Hermansson; and incumbent CDCA President Michael Sewell.

Said CDCA Chairman Mike Devonshire, “As an organisation, we are extremely proud and fortunate to have enjoyed our long association with these six individuals.

"Each has made an outstanding contribution in their respective fields to the long-term success of Central Districts, and ultimately, New Zealand cricket.

"It's a pleasure to celebrate passionate individuals who have played such key roles in putting CD cricket on the map, whether on the cricket stage or, just as importantly, behind the scenes of our number one summer sport.”

AIMEE WATKINS, née MASON

In the 40th anniversary season of the Central Hinds, it could not be more fitting to recognise arguably the most accomplished player in the team’s history.

First capturing the attention of the New Zealand selectors as a member of the New Plymouth Girls' High School team which won the 2000/01 Yoplait Cup (now the Gillette Venus Cup), the Taranaki and Central Hinds off-spinning allrounder debuted for New Zealand in 2002, and by 2009 was captain of the WHITE FERNS.

In a Central Hinds career that spanned from the 1998/99 to 2010/11 seasons, Watkins played all her Domestic New Zealand cricket for the side, named player of the season and captaining the side when it won the State League in 2006 for the first time, and captain in the halcyon summer of 2010 when the Hinds won both the T20 and One-Day national trophies.

Watkins played 105 one-day matches for the Hinds scoring 2361 runs including one century and 10 half centuries, and 119 wickets including one five-wicket bag and three four-wicket hauls.

She played 23 T20s for the side with five half centuries and 21 wickets.Watkins played all three formats for New Zealand, with two Test caps before red-ball cricket was phased out of the NZC women’s pathway; 103 One-Day International caps - one of just 10 players to have played a century of ODIs for New Zealand - and 36 T20 International caps.

As a left-hand batsman and right-arm off-spinner, Watkins contributed two ODI centuries and six half centuries, as well as three T20 International half centuries, and took a New Zealand record 92 ODI wickets, 22 T20i wickets and 3 Test wickets in an international career spanning nine years and was her country’s leading wicket-taker at the 2009 ICC Women’s World Cup, while her unbeaten 118*-run second wicket partnership against Australia at Taunton with Suzie Bates that same year remains the New Zealand women’s T20i record, and was the world record at that time.

After retiring to raise a family, Watkins has continued to make occasional appearances for Taranaki in recent times.

RICHARD HAYWARD

England-born, Nelson-based Richard Hayward had played first-class and List A County cricket for Hampshire and Lancashire before first representing Central Districts in 1983, and would also represent Somerset in both formats 1985.

He captained CD in the mid-80s, leading the side to success in the 1985 Shell Cup (one-day) Final in which CD defeated hosts Wellington by eight wickets — a season in which his teammates included the ilk of Martin Crowe, Ian Smith, Gary Robertson, Tony Blain and Derek Stirling.

In an overall first-class career spanning from 1979 to 1985/86, the left-hand batsman made 50 first-appearances — 27 for CD, including three centuries — one for CD — and nine half centuries — six for CD.

He also made 48 List A appearances, including 16 for CD, with three of his five half centuries for the side.Hayward had captained and coached Nelson at District and Hawke Cup level, and would later coach CD age-groups sides.

Later, in 2002, was appointed Canterbury Director of Coaching and Development. After 12 years in that role, he returned to CD as Nelson Cricket’s General Manager before retiring in 2016, and remains actively involved in the Domestic game as an NZC Match Referee.

After having first arrived 40 years ago and living in Nelson for 20 years all up, Hayward said, “I feel so lucky to have developed my connection with Nelson and CD. And, to have been directly involved in the game at District and MA level for all these years.

Hayward counts winning the 1985 Shell Cup with CD as one of his career highlights "and I am loving being a match referee for NZC, enabling me to still closely follow the fortunes of CD and all the teams. I feel privileged to be able to put something back into the game."

Hayward said he felt humbled to be awarded a CD Life Membership.

“It’s a terrific honour, I count this also as one of the highlights of my career and I would like to thank the CDCA Board for their consideration.

“I was taken by total surprise — totally unexpected, and I was really thrilled to accept because CD Cricket has been a very special part of my cricketing life.”

GARY HERMANSSON

One of New Zealand’s most respected sports pyschologists, Massey University Professor Emeritus Gary Hermansson has been mentoring CD players in mental skills since the 2004/05 season, and continues to provide core support to our flagship teams the Central Stags and Central Hinds.

Notes CDCA Manager, High Performance Lance Hamilton, “Gary’s impact on the players and the team has been immense over this period and he has become an incredibly valued member of not only the management team, but of the squads themselves over the years.

“Once upon a time, people used to think there must be ‘something wrong’ if you were seen talking to the sports psych during or between games. Gary had changed that perception to the point where the mental side of the game is now valued as highly as the technical or physical aspects. Gary is much more than our teams’ sports psych: he is a mentor and a friend to all involved in the organisation.”

Based in Palmerston North, Hermansson was also appointed Team Psychologist for nine international and four BLACKCAPS tours, as well as assisting the New Zealand athletes at four Olympic and four Commonwealth Games during a 40-year career.

A registered psychologist, Hermansson became Head of Department of Health and Human Development and Director of Sport Sciences at Massey and now works in private practice as an accredited Sport and Exercise Science Sport Psychologist and Mental Skills Trainer. The former Palmerston North Boys' High School student also played representative rugby for Manawatū and Wellington, starting at No.8 when Wellington beat the British and Irish Lions 20-6 in 1966; and cricket for Manawatū, making one first-class cricket appearance in 1962/63 for New Zealand U23.

Hermansson was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for service to sports psychology in 2015.

SCOTT BRIASCO

As a right-handed allrounder and CD captain playing in the era before professionalism - later also a coach and executive committee member, Scott Briasco’s CD representative career spanned nine summers from 1982/83 to 1991/92, in which he was awarded a benefit season by CDCA.

Briasco played 83 first-class matches (81 of those for CD), producing six centuries down the order amid his 4,390 runs, and taking 34 wickets.

In List A one-day cricket he played 52 matches (50 for CD), taking 31 wickets after also having represented Young New Zealand in 1984/85 in both formats.

Briasco represented Manawatu, Nelson and, later, Hawke’s Bay at District level, and played in Hawke Cup defences for those sides in the early 1980s - scoring as century for Hawke’s Bay in its successful 1984 defence against Hutt Valley.

Having been integrally associated with CD since 1977, the conclusion of Briasco’s playing days was not by far the end of his contribution to CD cricket, which he has continued to serve behind the scenes in administrative roles.

As CDCA’s current and longstanding Operations Manager, Briasco remains integral to the smooth running of matches from inter-district to NZC Grand Final level.

In acknowledgment of his CDCA life membership, Briasco paid tribute to his wife Julie and daughters Caitlin and Olivia for their continued support of his career in cricket, and thanked former CDCA CEO Blair Furlong, the late former CDCA Chairman, President and selector Basil Netten, and Patron Jock Sutherland for their support over the years.

MICHAEL SEWELL

Mike Sewell’s association with CD Cricket began in 1961 and saw him go on to contribute across the field for the advancement of the CD game — including as a member of NZC’s Hood Report committee that reviewed, revolutionised and brought the game forward nationally in the mid-1990s.

A retired chartered accountant, former President and patron of Cricket Wanganui, Sewell represented Whanganui at Hawke Cup level between 1964/65 and 1966/67 as a right-arm off-break spinner.

 

Appointed as a trustee of the Central Districts Cricket Charitable Trust in 1990 and chairing the Trust from 1993, he stepped up to serve as CDCA President in 2014 and has provided innumerable hours of service behind the scenes in the field of governance.

Sewell commented that he was “humbled and honoured” to be awarded a CDCA life membership for serving the sport that is his first love.

GARY POND

Another stalwart behind the scenes of CD Cricket, Gary Pond retired two years ago after serving the Association as an administrator for more than two decades.

An unsung hero, Pond has never been one to stand in the limelight, but without him countless jobs at many dozens of tournaments for generations of CD age group and Chapple Cup players would never have got done — let alone gone without a hitch in his 23 years of service.

“Pondy” began his association with CDCA in the early years as a right-hand man for long-term CEO Blair Furlong’s administration, with the pair at one stage running Central Districts Cricket out of a one-room office. It was Pond's second, and last, full-time job.

Pond’s role as administrator grew substantially, along with the organisation, over the ensuing years, but he always remained backstage making sure everything got done.

Noted CDCA Manager, Community Cricket Nigel Brookes, “Pondy did all the stuff in the background of tournaments that other people take for granted.

“Immensely loyal to CD, and a good, solid, reliable get-things-done man who was always tucked away at the end of the office, making sure everything was in place for others to play their cricket.”

Article added: Friday 15 November 2019