Hawke Cup

The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat the holders, either outright or on the first innings in a drawn match, on the holders' home ground.
Teams from New Zealand's four main centres, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, have not usually competed for the Hawke Cup, although they did participate in the latter half of the 1990s. They were excluded again from the 2000–01 season.
From 2000 to 2010 the team from Hamilton, New Zealand's fourth-largest urban area, was the most successful. Since then the title has changed hands numerous times, Manawatu, Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty and Canterbury Country being prominent. In 2012–13 Hamilton conceded the highest-ever score in the Hawke Cup of 701 against Bay of Plenty. This record score was equalled again by Bay of Plenty against Counties Manukau during their first defence of the Hawke Cup in 2017. Owing to COVID-19 restrictions, the last two matches of the 2021–22 competition were postponed until the 2022–23 season.

Origin

The Plunket Shield, New Zealand's premier cricket competition for its first-class teams, was inaugurated in 1907. In 1910 Lord Hawke donated a challenge cup for competition among the minor associations. The first match, in December 1910, resulted in a victory to Manawatu over Wairarapa. The first holders, decided in the final match of the 1910–11 competition, were Southland.
As the number of minor associations grew, it became necessary to restrict the number of challenge matches. Beginning with the 1924–25 competition, when there were 18 minor associations, elimination or qualifying matches have been played to determine which associations should have the right to challenge the holders.

Title holders

1910–11 to 1999–2000

From 1985–86 to 1994–95 the competition was called the U-Bix Cup; from 1995–96 to 1997–98 it was the Fuji Xerox Cup; in 1998–99 it was the National District Championship.

2000–01 to the present

Season	Challenge matches	Holders after each challenge
2000–01	Semi-finals Hamilton v Canterbury Country, Hawke's Bay v Bay of Plenty, Final Hamilton v Hawke's Bay	Hamilton
2001–02	Hamilton v North Otago, Hamilton v Hawke's Bay, Hamilton v Northland, Hamilton v Canterbury Country, Hamilton v Manawatu	Hamilton, Manawatu
2002–03	Manawatu v Hawke's Bay, Hawke's Bay v Northland, Northland v Canterbury Country	Hawke's Bay, Northland
2003–04	Northland v Hamilton, Northland v Mid-Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury v Taranaki	Northland, Mid-Canterbury
2004–05	Mid-Canterbury v Canterbury Country, Canterbury Country v Nelson, Canterbury Country v Hamilton	Canterbury Country, Hamilton
2005–06	Hamilton v Taranaki, Hamilton v Northland, Hamilton v Southland	Hamilton
2006–07	Hamilton v Northland, Hamilton v Canterbury Country, Hamilton v Taranaki	Hamilton, Taranaki
2007–08	Taranaki v Canterbury Country, Canterbury Country v Hawke's Bay, Canterbury Country v Hamilton	Canterbury Country, Hamilton
2008–09	Hamilton v Hawke's Bay, Hawke's Bay v Northland, Hawke's Bay v Canterbury Country	Hawke's Bay
2009–10	Hawke's Bay v Manawatu, Manawatu v Bay of Plenty, Manawatu v Marlborough, Manawatu v North Otago	Manawatu, North Otago
2010–11	North Otago v Otago Country, Otago Country v Marlborough, Marlborough v Hawke's Bay, Marlborough v Hamilton	Otago Country, Marlborough, Hamilton
2011–12	Hamilton v Counties Manukau, Hamilton v Wairarapa, Hamilton v Nelson, Hamilton v Southland	Hamilton
2012–13	Hamilton v Bay of Plenty, Bay of Plenty v Manawatu, Bay of Plenty v Canterbury Country, Bay of Plenty v South Canterbury	Bay of Plenty
2013–14	Bay of Plenty v Hamilton, Bay of Plenty v Manawatu, Manawatu v Canterbury Country, Manawatu v Southland	Bay of Plenty, Manawatu
2014–15	Manawatu v Taranaki, Manawatu v Northland, Manawatu v Canterbury Country, Canterbury Country v North Otago	Manawatu, Canterbury Country
2015–16	Canterbury Country v Buller, Buller v North Otago, North Otago v Hawke's Bay, Hawke's Bay v Bay of Plenty	Buller, North Otago, Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty
2016–17	Bay of Plenty v Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty v Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty v Nelson, Bay of Plenty v Southland	Bay of Plenty
2017–18	Bay of Plenty v Counties Manukau, Counties Manukau v Taranaki, Counties Manukau v Canterbury Country, Counties Manukau v Southland	Counties Manukau, Southland
2018–19	Southland v Mid Canterbury, Southland v Nelson, Nelson v Hawke's Bay, Hawke's Bay v Hamilton	Southland, Nelson, Hawke's Bay, Hamilton
2019–20	Hamilton v Bay of Plenty, Hamilton v Hawke's Bay, Hamilton v Canterbury Country, Canterbury Country v Otago Country	Hamilton, Canterbury Country
2020–21	Canterbury Country v Nelson, Nelson v North Otago, North Otago v Hawke's Bay, Hawke's Bay v Hamilton	Nelson, North Otago, Hawke's Bay
2021–22	Hawke's Bay v Manawatu, Hawke's Bay v Bay of Plenty	Hawke's Bay
2022–23	Hawke's Bay v Canterbury Country, Canterbury Country v Southland, Canterbury Country v Nelson, Canterbury Country v Otago Country	Canterbury Country
2023–24	Canterbury Country v Hawke's Bay, Hawke's Bay v Manawatu, Hawke's Bay v Counties Manukau, Hawke's Bay v Canterbury Country, Hawke's Bay v South Canterbury	Hawke's Bay
2024–25	Hawke's Bay v Taranaki, Taranaki v Hamilton, Taranaki v Canterbury Country, Taranaki v South Canterbury	Taranaki
2025–26	Taranaki v Hawke's Bay	Taranaki

Records

Teams

Nelson has the record for holding the Cup for the longest period and the most challenges. Between 1958 and 1965 Nelson resisted 28 challenges. Manawatu resisted 15 challenges between 1934 and 1938, as did Southland between 1989 and 1992.
The highest team score is 701, made by Bay of Plenty twice: in 2013 and 2017.

Players

Current players can usually play a maximum of four Hawke Cup challenge matches a season, and that is only for members of the team holding the Hawke Cup and defeating every challenger. Historically there have been between two and six challenge matches every season for the holders, so it has been difficult for players to build much of a record unless they have been part of a strong team and have had a lengthy career. Nevertheless, 19 players have scored 1000 runs and five players have taken 100 wickets.

Batting

The highest score in the competition is 272 not out, by Mick Kinzett for Nelson against Marlborough in the 1933–34 season.

Bowling

The best bowling figures in an innings in a challenge match are 10 for 35 by Chester Holland for Wanganui against South Taranaki in 1922–23. Outside the challenge matches, the best bowling figures in an innings are 10 for 24 by Ben Stark for Marlborough in a qualifying match against West Coast in 2012–13.

Current structure

There are four regional zones in the Hawke Cup.

Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4
Hamilton	Hawke's Bay	Canterbury Country	Otago Country
Northland	Wairarapa	Marlborough	North Otago
Counties Manukau	Whanganui	Nelson	Southland
Bay of Plenty	Horowhenua Kapiti	Buller	South Canterbury
Poverty Bay	Manawatu		Mid Canterbury
Waikato Valley	Taranaki	-	-

After a round robin within each zone, the winners of each zone get a Hawke Cup Challenge as part of the challenge series against the current holders on a rotational basis. For example 2010-11 holders North Otago played the winner of their own zone in the first challenge followed by challenges by the winners of zone 3, 2 and 1.
The team with the Hawke Cup at the end of the challenge series holds it for the winter. Hawke Cup games are played over three days. To win the Hawke Cup a challenger must beat the holder outright or win on the first innings on the holder's home ground.

Teams

More than forty teams have competed for the Hawke Cup. In the following list, current teams are indicated in bold.
Many boundaries, both political-administrative and cricket-administrative, have been redrawn since the competition began. The Counties Manukau team, for example, succeeded the former Franklin team, but their districts are not identical.

Team	Main centre	First season	Last season	Titles	Current status
Ashburton County	Ashburton	1957–58	1983–84	0	Now plays as Mid Canterbury
Auckland-Manukau	Auckland	1995–96	1996–97	1	Now part of Auckland Plunket Shield team
Auckland-Waitakere	Auckland	1997–98	1999–2000	1	Now part of Auckland Plunket Shield team
Bay of Plenty	Mount Maunganui	1931–32	Continuing	5	Current team
Buller	Westport	1947–48	Continuing	1	Current team
Canterbury Country	Rangiora	1992–93	Continuing	7	Current team
Central Otago	Alexandra	1963–64	2005–06	1	Now plays as Otago Country
Counties	Pukekohe	1979–80	1994–95	0	Succeeded Franklin, and was succeeded by Counties Manukau
Counties Manukau	Manurewa	2011–12	Continuing	1	Current team
Dunedin Metropolitan	Dunedin	1998–99	1999–2000	1	Now part of Otago Plunket Shield team
Franklin	Pukekohe	1957–58	1977–78	0	Succeeded by Counties, and now plays as Counties Manukau
Hamilton	Hamilton	1976–77	Continuing	5	Current team
Hawke's Bay	Napier	1922–23	Continuing	12	Current team
Horowhenua	Levin	1965–66	1991–92	0	Now plays as Horowhenua Kapiti
Horowhenua Kapiti	Levin	2002–03	Continuing	0	Current team
Hutt Valley	Lower Hutt	1947–48	1996–97	4	Now part of Wellington Plunket Shield team
King Country	Taumarunui; Ōtorohanga	1955–56	1972–73	0	Now part of Waikato Valley
Manawatu	Palmerston North	1910–11	Continuing	9	Current team
Marlborough	Blenheim	1912–13	Continuing	3	Current team
Mid Canterbury	Ashburton	1997–98	Continuing	1	Current team
Midlands	Taumarunui	1975–76	1983–84	0	Now part of Waikato Valley
Nelson	Nelson	1921–22	Continuing	10	Current team
North Auckland	Whangārei	1938–39	1938–39	0	Now named Northland
North Canterbury	Rangiora	1963–64	1990–91	2	Now named Canterbury Country
North Harbour	Auckland	1994–95	1998–99	0	Now part of Auckland Plunket Shield team
North Otago	Oamaru	1958–59	Continuing	3	Current team
North Taranaki	New Plymouth	1910–11	1922–23	0	Part of Taranaki since the 1920s
Northland	Whangārei	1951–52	Continuing	7	Current team
Otago Country	Alexandra	2007–08	Continuing	1	Current team
Poverty Bay	Gisborne	1913–14	Continuing	1	Current team
Rangitikei	Marton	1910–11	1988–89	2	Now part of Whanganui
South Auckland	Hamilton	1912–13	1936–37	2	Now divided into Waikato Valley and Hamilton
South Canterbury	Timaru	1910–11	Continuing	1	Current team
South Taranaki	Hawera	1910–11	1922–23	0	Part of Taranaki since the 1920s
Southern Hawke's Bay	Dannevirke	1926–27	1991–92	0	Now part of Manawatu
Southland	Invercargill	1910–11	Continuing	6	Current team
Taranaki	New Plymouth	1926–27	Continuing	7	Current team, formed from North Taranaki and South Taranaki in the 1920s
Thames Valley	Te Aroha; Paeroa	1955–56	1983–84	0	Now part of Waikato Valley
Waiapu	Waipiro Bay; Tokomaru Bay	1930–31	1938–39	0	Now part of Poverty Bay
Waikato	Hamilton	1921–22	1974–75	4	Now divided into Waikato Valley and Hamilton
Waikato Valley	Hamilton; Cambridge	2013–14	Continuing	0	Current team, superseding Waikato, South Auckland, Thames Valley, King Country and Midlands
Wairarapa	Masterton	1910–11	Continuing	3	Current team
Wellington City	Wellington	1997–98	1998–99	2	Now part of Wellington Plunket Shield team
West Coast	Greymouth	1924–25	2009–10	0
Whanganui	Whanganui	1912–13	Continuing	6	Current team