Photo / Supplied: Te Whanganui-a-Tara squad.
The five regional Māori squads that include talent from Hawke Cup, major association age-group provincial A and Māori secondary school levels, have finally been named for the upcoming inaugural Māori National T20 Tournament happening this Easter weekend, which was first announced last month.
Those teams include Te Waipounamu Māori (South Island Māori), Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori (Wellington Māori), Central Districts Māori, McCaw Lewis Northern Districts Māori and Tāmaki Makaurau Māori (Auckland Māori).
The last team has already had many games over the past two seasons, including facing the Cook Islands and Northern Māori last year. The squad is coached by Māori secondary schoolboys' Michael Tillet and Corey Todd, with Dusan Hakaraia and Jock McKenzie being looked to for leadership within the squad.
The Central Districts Māori are bringing their upcoming talents with them to the tournament in the form of prospects Jerome Robinson and Samuel Payne, both of whom have played for the Māori secondary schoolboys this year. The team also has the experience to potentially bring home a title, with Taranaki’s Jarred Cunningham and Horowhenua-Kapiti’s Bailey Te Tomo included in the team.
More Māori secondary schoolboys reps are in the Wellington Māori squad including Lachlan Bailey and Marco Muollo. They also have newly signed Wellington Firebirds player Jesse Tashkoff, the same Firebirds that play in the men’s super-smash twenty20 competition.
The north side has also had the pleasure of playing together in the past year, with veteran Charles Williams having competed in Bay of Plenty club cricket as part of their squad. The captaincy falls toMikaere Leef.
South Island Māori have an entire island of talent to select from for representation, managed by Matiu Workman, who says the tournament presents the opportunity for players to showcase who they are as Māori in the sport of cricket.
“It’s so empowering to have a space within such a traditionally British and colonial sport to not only explore our Māori identity but also to allow us to live and play as Māori.”
Some of the South Island squad members include East Shirley Cricket Club batter Timothy Hampton-Matehe, Southland’s Brendan Domigan and Otago A wicketkeeper-batsman Oscar Wilson.
The five regional teams competing in the action will do so on Good Friday this week at 2:30pm, with Tāmaki Makaurau Māori against Northern Māori to begin with, followed by Central Māori vs Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
The action follows with two matches played on both Saturday and Sunday.
A Māori National Women’s Tournament is planned to be held later this year in October, with details unknown yet.
FULL SQUADS
Tāmaki Makaurau Māori (Auckland Māori): Fraser Campbell, Ben Brady, Jack Clough, Elias Falanitule, Flynn Goodley-Hollister, Dusan Hakaraia, William Martin, Jock McKenzie, Noah Scordino, Harry Sinclair, Ryan Smardon, Jack Windler.
McCaw Lewis Northern Districts Māori: Mikaere Leef (c), Depp Bollingford, Brock Cameron, Curtis Cherrington, Fraser Farrell, Joshua Hill, Harry Jones, Ryan Metcalfe, Leighton Parsons, Ethan Price, Cohen Stewart, Samuel Wilson, Charles Williams.
Central Districts Māori: Aiden Clark, Jarred Cunningham, Dustin Emms-Healey, Taine Halbert, Bayley Latter, Rian Lyver, Jamie Marshall, Angus McKnight, Charlie Pawson, Samuel Payne, Jerome Robinson, Bailey Te Tomo.
Te Whanganui-a-Tara: Jesse Tashkoff (c), Lachlan Bailey, Kaleb Gilhooly, Ryan Jackson, Drew MacDonald, Henry McIntyre, Marco Muollo, Max Petrie, Mitch Scott, Nik Swain, Alex Thompson, Patrick White.
Te Waipounamu Māori (South Island Māori): Jamal Al-sukhon, Shaun Berryman, Toby Clemett, Brendan Domigan, Timothy Hampton-Matehe, Charlie Robson, Rory Sloan, Kobe Stackhouse, Reuben Stoffers, Oscar Wilson, Jake Kura, Brayden Thomas.