The Willows v St Kevin’s College 1st XI on 19 November 2023

Season 2023/24

Head-to-head

The Willows first played against St Kevin’s College 1st XI in the 2020/21 season.

Bob Wills Trophy

Bob Wills was at St Kevin's College in the late 1940s and in the 1st XI in all three years he was at SKC. He was also in the 1st XV in his final year. In 1948 the school closed for six months due to the Polio epidemic so Bob did not return. Representing Southland against the touring West Indies Bob took a severe blow on his shin when Everton Weekes clipped a ball to short leg. Whilst an accomplished sportsman Bob was a gifted musician playing the Cornet and Trumpet and won the New Zealand Under 18 Cornet title. He was a regular support musician for many of the touring shows that visited Invercargill. When the Marist Invercargill Cricket Club had their centenary Bob was one of the players selected in their team of the century.

Played

Won

Lost

v St Kevin’s College 1st XI

Sunday, 19 November 2023

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The Willows 330/6

L Direen 100*, K Scott 91, B Fleming 84, M Campbell 20

St Kevin’s College 175

H Growcott 36, O Waldron 30, J Kelly 23

The Willows
won by 155 runs

This year The Willows were looking to win back the Bob Wills Trophy that SKC had won in a tight battle the previous year. The Willows had four past pupils and a number of New Zealand Over 50 representatives in the side. The game was played in beautiful conditions with the sun out and the ground looking a picture. With The Willows winning the toss, they were 1 down early on but Kelvin Scott and Brent Fleming battled through the early overs showing their class, Kelvin in particular working the ball nicely through the point and cover regions.

The match was evenly poised at the 25 over mark, The Willows 98 for 1, with the SKC bowlers not giving much away and the batsmen keeping the scoreboard ticking over. The second half of the innings proved a different story with the set batsmen increasing the run rate. The timing and placement of the established pair was impressive and they made the SKC bowlers pay for any loose bowling. Unfortunately both missed out on hundreds with Kelvin departing for 91 and Brent for 84. This bought SKC player/coach and Otago Under 19 representative to the crease and he immediately made his mark. He put the bowlers to the sword, entering the batting innings in the 32nd over and eventually finishing on 100 not out.

This propelled the Willows to 330 for 6 with a handy contribution of 20 from Micah Campbell helping at the end. The SKC bowlers toiled hard, with Riley Tuffley, Campbell Fowler, Liam Cameron and Jack Kelly picking up a wicket each. Year 9 student Hamish Fowler also had the glory of nicking off older brother Jacob to get bragging rights for the car trip home.

The Willows started the bowling innings with a wicket in the first over, then Jack Kelly and Hunter Growcott settled in and played some nice shots, being particularly harsh on anything short.

The experienced pair of Andrew Nuttall and Craig Direen were bought to the crease and immediately made an impact picking up key wickets at regular intervals. Jack made 23 and Hunter 36, and although there were contributions in the middle order, no-one could kick on and make a big contribution. Andrew picked up his 250th wicket for The Willows when he dismissed Campbell Fowler, the most by any Willows cricketer by a significant margin.

His guile and variations were on point and he finished with three wickets, as did Micah Campbell. Oscar Waldron fought hard until the end and made 30 for the school team down the order, with SKC eventually dismissed for 175.