The worldwide phenomenon of Last Man Stands cricket is coming to Counties Manukau later this summer.

Local man and former Mauku cricketer Keven Greasley is bringing the initiative to our region and is planning on running games at local venues with the support of Counties Manukau Cricket Association.

“It is the new way to play cricket and really is anybody’s game,” Greasley told Counties Sports Hub.

“It is the perfect opportunity for any people of any age, ability, gender etc to get involved. It is the chance to get the old team together especially for those who don’t play at all anymore.  

“It is traditionally run as a mid-week fixture between 5.30pm-8pm so it’s an easy to manage a two-hour cricket fix after work. This ensures weekends aren’t impacted. 

“It is an ideal way to get your cricket fix for the time poor people, without losing half your weekend and you can compete locally, nationally and internationally.”

The concept sees eight-person teams play a game of T20 cricket in just two hours making it an attractive proposition for modern cricket fans.

Games are fully managed and organised. Last Man Stands supplies the game ball, stumps, organises venues and provides umpires who livescore the game. All players need to do is turn up with some personal equipment each or enough to share around the team. 

There are over 180,000 registered players around the world with each player being able to measure their own individual stats to every other registered player. Each player will have their own world ranking in each aspect of the game.

There are six specific rules in Last Man Stands that differ from traditional cricket.

The first is that all eight wickets must be taken by the fielding team, meaning the last batsmen continues to bat on their own until they are dismissed.

The final ball of each innings is the Home Run ball, which sees the striker able to score a 12 if they clear the boundary on the full.

The ball is not dead in Last Man Stands so batting sides can score a steal (two extra runs) if the non-striker is able to successfully run to the striker’s end and back after a catch has been taken.

A double play exists however, which sees the non-striker able to be run out by either attempting a steal or by backing up too far in addition to the striker being dismissed.

There are eight players a-side, which creates plenty of space for runs to be scored. A minimum of five different bowlers must be used.

Finally, batsmen must retire when they reach 50. They can return to the crease and continue their innings once all of the wickets have been taken or once other batters have also retired.

The concept was born in 2005 and has become very popular with legendary South African cricketer A.B de Villiers becoming the brand’s global ambassador last year.

Greasley encourages anyone that is interested in giving it a go to follow the Last Man Stands Counties Manukau Facebook page to get more information as it is confirmed or to contact him to register interest.

“Main goal I guess is to get the word out there, introduce as many people to it this season as possible and make it regular fixture for seasons to come,” Greasley said. 

Find out more/register interest in Last Man Stands
Email: countiesmanukau@lastmanstands.co.nz
+64 27 511 8877
www.lastmanstands.com