When the North Otago Cricket Association was formed in 1899, a special match committee was setup to organize fixtures for the forthcoming season between the affiliated clubs. Seven teams were entered in its new competition (Oamaru A, Oamaru B, Tureka, Capulet, Waitaki, a Hilderthorpe-Pukeuri combined team and a Ngapara-Maraewhenua combined team) with each team playing each other once home and away on Thursday nights to decide the premier team. Due to a lack of grounds and with at least two teams based at one ground most games where played at Takaro Park. Tureka were the inaugural champions being undefeated in ‘Association fixtures’.

During this period the Oamaru Cricket Club was easily the strongest club in the district. To make the other clubs more competitive and a more even competition Oamaru entered two teams with its talent being spread between these two teams, however it still dominated the competition during its early years. For the first 10 seasons, Oamaru won it 6 times with Oamaru A being undefeated in 1900-01 and 1906-07. A regular feature of these seasons would be one Oamaru team finishing first with the other finishing second. Cricket in Oamaru reached a high point with a B competition introduced and one season saw 8 teams entered into its Senior Competition.

North Otago Cricket found the purchasing of a suitable trophy difficult due to a lack of funds until Oamaru Cricket Club member John Borton donated a trophy to be competed for in 1900. The trophy was referred to under many names such as "The North Otago Cup" and "Association Cup" but it is generally agreed that it was called the "NOCA Cup". John Borton was a well-known and successful farmer in the New Zealand colony during the 1800's along with being a major contributor to the Oamaru Cricket Club.

This early golden era of cricket in North Otago unfortunately wasn't to last. As teams started to struggle to find adequate grounds and other factors such as prohibition started to gain a hold, cricket slowly started to disappear, and effectively became defunct in 1909.

With the opening of King George Park in 1915 and the return of servicemen from war service overseas in 1919 there was enough of a push to restart the Assocation. Waitaki Boys High School was the first winners of the re-launched competition being presented with the old trophy at the end of the season. Waitaki Boys as holders then stored the Cup in the front block at the school but a major fire broke out that saw its loss in 1920. Frank Milner, then rector of the school, presented a new cup to the NOCA as a replacement - the Borton Cup, named after John Borton who had donated the original cup in 1900.

The 1921-1922 season saw two major changes, the introduction of two day cricket and also the Senior competition was moved to Saturdays, after it had continued to be played on Thursdays when the Association was reformed in 1919. This also saw the introduction of Albion to the Senior Competition.

Since then the competition has been played every season apart from a brief break during World War 2. The past three decades have seen major changes, in 1993-1994 finals were introduced, while the following season saw fixtures changing to a solely one day format. Two day cricket was to return in 2001-2002 but only lasted two seasons before it returned to only one day fixtures. These decades have also seen the dates on which it is played change. Previously it was played throughout the season, it is now only played during the school term. The Dick Hunt Rosebowl (originally played for as a challenge trophy) is now played for over the summer holiday period between clubs and teams affliated to North Otago Cricket.

In 2011 the Borton Cup was lost, then two seasons later a replica was purchased to replace the orignial. Whilst the orignal only had the premiers engraved on it since its introduction in 1920, the replica has been engraved with all the premiers of the North Otago Senior Compeitition since Tureka's undefeated season in 1899-1900.
(December 2019)