Be fair, gods of sun and rain - a washout is just not cricket

OPINION: January is meant to be a time for summer weather but the gods were not smiling on Manawatu's cricket team yesterday.

Needing a first innings win to all but guarantee a challenge for the Hawke Cup against holder Hawke's Bay, they had Wairarapa on the ropes after Saturday, but when the heavens opened, their chances were washed away. We believe Taranaki snuck through to win the challenge after beating Wanganui on the first innings and having a superior runs per wicket ratio over our lads, but official word was due later today.

Supporters of the Central Hinds women's cricket team were nearly slapped with an expensive bill to get to the finals on the weekend.

With two of Central's regular venues – New Plymouth and Palmerston North unavailable – the women were nearly sent to Nelson to play. Not only was the cost of travel going to be big but the Hinds have never played a game in Nelson, and were hardly likely to draw more people to watch the game than the players.

Napier stepped in to host the weekend's matches at Nelson Park. The Hinds came to the party with a win in the Twenty20 final on Saturday over Auckland and then took the one-day spoils after yesterday's match against Wellington was rained out.

Manawatu golf professional Tim Wilkinson will be looking forward to the big Northern Trust Open on the PGA Tour in Los Angeles this week.

Bruising on his chest has receded after a ball he hit rebounded out of a flower garden during the Sony tournament in Hawaii and ricocheted back at him off a rock.

Wilkinson will also be keen to deploy a tailor-made TaylorMade driver. He ruined his practising in Palmerston North and the replacement he was given in Hawaii wasn't a tour player's model. So he was fighting hooks with it over two days there.We wonder if a local sports website needs more regular updating.

Still featured on the Manawatu Rugby Union site is the player profile of wing Andre Taylor who is no longer a Manawatu player after controversially signing with Taranaki for this year.

And there's no sign of the Manawatu Sevens team's results from the Suva International tournament in Fiji last week.

A highlight of Manawatu's next sporting season, and perhaps New Zealand's, will be the World Women's Team Squash Championships from November 30 to December 4.

The Kiwi team has a good chance, with three players ranked in the top 30. Sky TV has confirmed it will be covering the event. The Squash New Zealand annual meeting, usually held in Rotorua or Auckland, will be held in Palmerston North on the morning of the finals.Someone has been phoning officials at Manawatu bowling clubs impersonating Manawatu Standard sports editor Peter Lampp.

At least two clubs received bogus calls last week about the Gary Lawson controversy, about a fictitious 4pm deadline and a suggestion that Bowls NZ boss Kerry Clark was resigning. It is all hogwash and we suggest clubs trace the call using their wiretap security systems!

- © Fairfax NZ News