Premier Cricket Series launched

Canterbury Cricket is launching a new Sunday competition known as the Premier Cricket Series (PCS).

The competition is made up of four teams: Two Metro teams - the Cavaliers and the Knights, which consist of the best club players from the Christchurch competition as well as members of the Canterbury Wizards squad; Canterbury Districts side; a provincial Academy team.

The first round of 100-over games begins on Sunday. The games will be played on Canterbury's best first-class pitches, including Hagley Oval and Mainpower Oval in Rangiora.

The fixtures for the first round are: October 11 and 18, Knights v Canterbury Districts; Cavaliers v Canterbury Academy. Both matches will be played at Elmwood Park, starting at 10.30am. Round two is on October 25 and 26.

The squads:

Knights: Michael Papps (captain), Joel Abraham, Todd Astle, Dean Brownlie, Leighton Burtt, Jason Donnelly, Carl Frauenstein, Matt Holstein, Nick Johnston, Chris Martin, Ryan McCone, Shanan Stewart. Coach: Mike Johnston.

Canterbury Districts: Peter Fulton (captain) Liam Batholomeusz, Ryan Cockburn, Craig Davies, Andrew Duncan, Matthew Fielding, Dave Fulton, Craig Hinton, Sam Langrope, Andrew Richardson, Andrew Robertson, Jeremy Winchester. Coach: Blair Franklin.

Cavaliers: Kruger van Wyk (c), Keryn Ambler, Ryan Burson, Tom Calvin, Michael Davidson, Brandon Hiini, Marty Kain, Tim Muir, Johann Myburgh, Rob Nicol, Sam Noster, Iain Robertson. Coach: Craig Kerr.

Academy: Andrew Ellis (c), Corey Anderson, Matt Farrant, Matt Henry, Tim Johnston, Matt Laffey, Tom Latham, Cole McConchie, Matt McEwan, Henry Nicholls, Logan van Beek, Bill Walsh. Coach: Paul Wiseman. Canterbury Wizard Hamish Bennett is unavailable due to injury, but will become a member of the Canterbury Districts side on his return.

- © Fairfax NZ News