History Made in Hamilton! On Friday 29th November 2024, cricket history was made at the stunning Woodlands Estate - Homestead, Gardens, Venue, Cafe in Hamilton, where the Seddon Cricket Club hosted New Zealand’s first-ever live auction for a T20 competition.

The sold-out event and function, attended by 70 passionate cricket supporters including franchise owners, players, sponsors, supporters, families and friends, marked an exciting new chapter and initiative led by the Seddon Cricket Club.

28 players from across the region, were up for grabs in a hotly contested bidding war. Guy Schwikkard ($500,00), Callum Nicholls ($396,000), Harvey Evans ($396,00), Luke Russell ($300,000) and Leighton Parsons ($300,000) were the leading picks.

It was wonderful to see a vast range of talent across the player list that entered the Auction. These players will join the players that were already captured by the Team Owners prior to Friday night. Some of these captured players include JOEY YOVICH, former Blackcap LOU VINCENT, along with ROSS TAYLOR who will represent the Kaipaki Bombers franchise, and BRENT ARNELL is set to line up for the Franklin Longkeepers. The fun doesn’t stop here—the Seddon Premier League (SPL) kicks off this January 2025 in Hamilton, bringing plenty of fireworks and top-tier cricket action.

Could this ground-breaking tournament spark the beginning of a nationwide trend?

If you’d like to watch the SPL Auction please CLICK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STvsI6Kbq6E

Great events like this wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for special people in our community.

A big thank you to legendary auctioneer Mark McGoldrick – he was a man that was at the peak of his craft on Friday night! Sorry The Willows Cricket Club, he’s ours now!!

Another guy that was at the peak of his craft was our DJ, Ryan Gulbransen. Outstanding work and it made the night.

A big thank you to Woodlands Estate, but in particular, Angela Crawshay at Woodlands Garden Grove Cafe & Bar What a fantastic host and Seddon Cricket Club looks forward to supporting this venue more and more over the next few years.

Thank you to Logan Brown and Dominic Hodgson at SteamITnz for broadcasting this event live. StreamITnz is a new platform providing outstanding coverage of community sporting events. They recently did the Movember Test and I think everyone will agree that Logan does an outstanding job.

Thank you to Good George Brewing for again supplying The Loosener. Good George have now got taps out at Garden Grove Café. Two brilliant local businesses forging a cool little partnership.

Thank you to club members Nicola Hickey and Abby Keech for all their hard work throughout the night also. Their administration duties held the night together.

It was also wonderful to see some of Seddon Cricket Club’s major sponsors, not only supporting the event, but actually participating in the SPL also! Fraser Kilgour at Fraser Kilgour Real Estate was part of the Auction and Craigs Investment Partners are heavily involved in the Team Ownership administration of the Tamahere Bulls team.

Thanks once again to Sharon and Wayne at Ultimate Sports for capturing the night with their fantastic photography.

Last but not least thank you to the Team Owners for buying (literally) into this concept.

FRANKLIN LONGKEEPERS - Esther Williams, Jason Williams and Darrell Abbott

NORTHERN STARS - Colin Hickey

TAMAHERE BULLS - Quinton De Bruin, Callum Malcolm and Stuart Anderson

KAIPAKI BOMBERS - Dan Fenwick, Jerem Wylie, Scott Couch, Craig Bulloch, Ryan Preston, Dave McLennan