This is part one of a tribute to 1st XI cricket with a focus on those secondary schools who have an association and play regular matches at The Willows Cricket Club. Coverage is in alphabetical order (with a minimum of five games played). This first article extends from schools Ashburton to St Andrew’s College; thereafter (St Bede’s to Wellington Colleges) will feature in our next Annual Report.
For the past 26 years The Willows Cricket Club has been proud to foster the development of youth involved in secondary schools cricket. It has been an absolute pleasure to host in excess of twenty-five first elevens to our idyllic ground.
We are indebted to school principals, coaches, managers and supporters who have made this possible. Many travel long distances, from Auckland to Southland, to allow players to showcase their talent. It is a good time to celebrate the successes — and there have been plenty — school by school.
Ashburton College
Ashburton College in the early seasons played with Mt Hutt College lads as Mid-Canterbury Schools XI. In both 2011 and 2019 it was indeed the Ashburton College 1st XI who recorded two demolition wins over The Willows. In 2011 we were thrashed by 127 runs in what proved to be a proud day for their coach, Denis Mably. That day a total of seven catches were snapped up in the slips cordon, four by his son Ben (at second slip) — two being absolute screamers. And in 2019, the less said the better, but we were again routed by seven wickets (grim details on page 16).
Burnside High School
Burnside High School played in their own right until 2009 and then provided the bulk of a composite Northwest Schools XI which subsequently recorded two victories against the home club. The best individual performance by a Burnside player came in 2005 when medium- pacer Jeremy Sheaf took 6/37. This remains today as the second-best bowling statistic ever by a 1st XI player.
Christ’s College
Christ’s College won three of their first five games (and one more since). Their stand-out back then was the future fine international batsman Peter Fulton; unsurprisingly, he scored 80* in their 1996 victory. Key College players at the time included: Jonathan and Michael Davidson, Chris Bisman, Jeremy Innes, and Tom Fisher. In this year’s match Tom McClean had an excellent return with both the bat and ball.
Christchurch Boys’ HS
Christchurch Boys’ High School took ten games to notch their first win over the hosts. When it came, our skipper Cran Bull described the 2007 whitewash as “the mother of all hidings”. Since 2013 The Willows have now lost seven matches on the trot, many of which coincide with Matt Parr being their coach “supremo” and their dominance in the national Gillette Cup competition. There has been a production line of high calibre players coming from the Straven stable, the latest being Archie Redfern who in 2018 took a good attack apart with a century.
King’s High School
King’s High School similarly have performed impressively, winning five of their last six outings. In the best tradition of ex-student Brendon McCullum, King’s have produced some excellent cricketers. None more so than the all-rounder Beckham Wheeler-Greenall, who was a stand- out player on the 2019 Willows Youth tour to Malaysia and Sri Lanka. He also scored an unbeaten century against us this season.
Marlborough Boys’ College
Marlborough Boys’ College achieved a cluster of wins between 2005 and 2008. This would have pleased coach and long-term servant of the game Phil d’Auvergne. Key players from the era were the handy Joe Wheeler (later followed by younger brother and future Black Cap Ben) and Josh Poole.
Nelson College
Nelson College is the alma mater of the assistant groundsman. Garry MacDonald has had a huge influence on their resurgence and their last two victories has his indelible stamp imprinted all over them. Players to shine were David and Tom Zohrab in 2017 and Josh Simpson with 79* in their 2018 victory. All three have gone on to play for their province and continue the proud traditions in Hawke Cup cricket — where the bulk of the playing stock are ex-Nelson College lads.
North Canterbury Country Schools XI
North Canterbury Country Schools XI comprise lads from High Schools in the Christchurch hinterland. Although they have yet to record a win the closest they came was a cliff-hanger in 2003. On that occasion Matthew Brine was caught at the wicket for 123 runs in the final over with only one run separating the teams. Two other Country lads with the honour of scoring a century at The Willows are S. Duncan in 2000 and Dylan Goldstone in 2010.
Otago Boys’ High School
Otago Boys’ High School 1st XI rank a clear No. 1 for victories recorded against their often hapless Willows opponents. They have won a phenomenal nine of their last 12 visits. The likes of Jack Hunter, Josh Finnie, Ben Lockrose, Blair Soper, Max Chu have gone on to play first-class cricket. In 2009 paceman Tom Rutherford recorded the best-ever figures for a 1st XI bowler of 7/20. He demolished a Willows side which included Phil Harris, Danny Dowds and Michael Peacock and bowled them out for a paltry 54 runs. This remains our lowest ever innings total in any cricket in 26 seasons.
St Andrew’s College
St Andrew’s College had intermittent victories before a golden period between 2016 and 2018. Players like Will Hamilton, Rhys Mariu, Jesse Frew and left-arm slows of Dominic Cornish have recently left a big impression. So far STAC have a won a total of seven games and throughout the players have benefited from the wisdom and calm temperament of exceptional coach Mike Johnston.