The article on school first eleven cricket in the last annual report was well received by readers. This is the second in the series and looks at the remainder of our partner schools to highlight how well they have done over the years.
St Bede’s College
St Bede’s enjoyed a period of dominance over The Willows between 1997 and 2007 when they recorded five wins in nine matches. The best individual effort came from Chris Seabourn who took 5/27 in 2002 and we had several fine performances from Aaron Johnstone, Wade Cornelius, the Cunneen and Bartholomeusz brothers and Matthew Teale. This good form was replicated in 2020 with another convincing victory where Matt Boyle scored a wonderful century and took three important wickets.
St Thomas of Canterbury College
St Thomas’s has had no greater advocate and supporter than Keith Yardley, a former head boy who has cherished each of the five victories of his former XI. Tom Agnew was a star performer with bat and ball in their two initial wins over The Willows. Cricket is well-served at the school under the guidance of teachers Ben Rapson and Paul McCarthy. Both played regularly with the eleven in our annual fixture. It was not surprising that Ben and his protégé Tyler Bruce (87) led the charge to another great victory in 2020.
Shirley Boys’ High School
Shirley Boys’ surprisingly have yet to gain their first Willows scalp but it’s not for want of trying. Whenever they come to play there is always a powerful list of old boys who opt to play so the battle has been fierce. The nearest they came to victory was in 2009 when future Canterbury rep Ken McClure scored a wonderful century and they fell short by only two runs. I’ll let long-time coach David Grocott pick up the story: “The turning point of the game was Ken having to retire upon reaching his hundred as he was leading us to victory. A slightly embarrassed and apologetic (never!) Mike Dormer ensured this Willows custom was followed”.
Southwest Schools XI
This team owes a great deal to the outstanding cricket administrator Dave Biddick. He was instrumental in developing a strong unit before passing the mantle to Paul Bridgman who continues to nurture a fine crop of young cricketers. Two excellent recent centuries have come from the bat of James Rennie and Matthias Paltridge — the latter steering his team to a well-deserved first win at The Willows in 2019.
Southland BHS
Southland Boys’ have been one of the teams having furthest to travel to play. They have enjoyed some regular victories since their debut game in 2005, which for the record they won. On this occasion they chased down a score of 276/5. Tim McClean scored a stunning century off just 84 balls. You couldn’t ask for a better start from an XI and so it has continued over the seasons. Their latest victory in 2020 was another crushing five wickets win and came on the back of some impressive quick bowling by Jordan Tooby who took 6/41.
Timaru Boys’ High School
Timaru Boys’ had a memorable recent win over The Willows in 2020 when in a run-fest Liam Andrews was the star and led from the front scoring 110 retired. Before that TBHS had chalked up wins in 2004 and 2007. The earlier match was a cliffhanger. It is remembered because the future international quick Hamish Bennett was man of the match and his side won in the final over. Ben McCord, who later represented Canterbury, and William Walsh (Auckland A) also played that day.
Waimea College
Waimea outplayed The Willows for their only win in seven games in 2013. They won by a convincing seven wickets after an unbeaten partnership of 163 runs by M Weir and S Field. Latterly, the most heartening thing has been their willingness to induct capable Year 10 and 11 boys into their XI and also to see the huge number of parents and supporters who travel down for the match.
Waitaki Boys’ High School
Waitaki combined with St Kevin’s College in the early days. The best local product in recent years was former Waitaki captain and now Otago Volts player Nathan Smith. And the best individual performance being the hat-trick taken by Ben Paton in 2019. Cricket is well-served in Oamaru with good guidance provided by Hawke Cup players Francois Mostert and Jeremiah Shields.
Whanganui Collegiate School
Whanganui Collegiate have a proud record at The Willows. Initially, with Dermot Payton as coach the team has always come with strong parental support plus the long-serving Bob Wake as scorer. No one keeps as fine a book anywhere. Of their three wins over The Willows the biggest margin came in the 2013/14 fixture. Stand-outs that day with half-centuries were skipper Charlie Robson (now plying his skill with the local Weedons CC) and Andre Halbert who also backed up with 5/22 with the ball.
Wellington College
Wellington College have enjoyed a royal trot since 2014 winning all five matches. This was the perfect send-off for long-serving principal Roger Moses who always travelled down with a loyal contingent to support the team. Another quality admired in the Wellington lads is their aggressive and attacking approach to the game. Two of their most recent stars are Devan Vishvaka, an all-round cricketer of exceptional ability, and Peter Bonar who set the 2020 match alight.
Thank you
Nothing which has been accomplished over the past 27 years would have been possible without the involvement of so many cricket loving personnel who believe and support youth development in our game.
Other first elevens to play at Jaguar Oval are: 1996 Te Awamutu College, King’s College (3 matches), Mt Hutt College, Kristin School, St Kevin’s College (Oamaru, pictured above) who were victorious on their debut outing in 2020, Gore High School (4 matches), Sacred Heart College (3 matches) and Hutt International Boys’ School who played their debut game at The Willows in 2020 with an unlucky Lachie Bailey just missing a first-up ton.