1st 1994/95
First century by a Willows batsman – Paul
McEwan v Flaxton Wanderers.
2nd 1995/96
Inaugural Club Dinner held – speaker Iain
Gallaway with 170 members in attendance
including Bill Douglass, President of I Zingari,
Australia.
3rd 1996/97
John Wright (82 tests for NZ) ran a coaching
clinic for 1st XI players across ten schools; and
the first “6” hit directly through the open front
doors of the pavilion by Adam Parore (78 tests
for NZ) – luckily nothing was broken inside!
4th 1997/98
First tied match in our history – Flaxton
Wanderers v The Willows and Paul Rutledge
donned Father Christmas kit for the first time, for
the annual children’s Christmas Party.
5th 1998/99
Hosted five members of The ’49ers – the
legendary 1949 cricket team – for the opening of
the WA Hadlee riverstone gateway to the ground.
6th 1999/00
First loss (of many) at the hands of the
Hawkswood Wanderers Club – the late Roger
Macfarlane never stopped grinning all day.
7th 2000/01
First regular match manager Peter Nancarrow,
retired wool buyer, commenced a tradition
carried on in recent years by Jim Stringleman,
who introduced electronic newsletters.
8th 2001/02
First regular live CTV match coverage screened;
with video-taped copies available for all schools.
9th 2002/03
The Willows Foundation Trust was established.
10th 2003/04
First two scholars to Matfen (Northumberland) –
Josh Coll and Fraser Hawes. The programme
continues to this day and is one of the jewels in
The Willows’ crown.
11th 2004/05
First player to score 1,000 runs – Phil Harris.
12th 2005/06
Membership of the Club exceeded 500 members
for the first time.
13th 2006/07
The sad passing of our Patron in Perpetuity – Mr
WA Hadlee, CBE.
14th 2007/08
First overseas tour by a Willows Under-17 team to
India, Oman and Sharjah (under Paul McEwan,
Ken Rust and Rodger McHarg).
15th 2008/09
First use of a helicopter, at the Wellington College
match, to dry the square after a wet spring.
16th 2009/10
The best bowling performance ever against The
Willows by Tom Rutherford (son of Ken) with
7/20 for Otago Boys’ High School 1st XI.
17th 2010/11
Sir Tim Rice and Sir Anand Satyanand contribute
to two auspicious social events, for Club members
and Governor-General’s XI players.
18th 2011/12
For the first time the top was taken off the
square and the area was totally re-laid. The work
was overseen by Tony Stead and Peter Devlin.
19th 2012/13
The first regular female umpire, Kim Cotton,
stood for four matches during the season. Prior to
this the first ever female umpire to stand at The
Willows was Eddie Brownlee’s daughter Leonie.
20th 2013/14
Two firsts, (1) the ground renamed Jaguar Oval
under a sponsorship arrangement with Jaguar
International and Archibald Motors and (2) Alex
Reese, who went on the 2008 tour, was inspired
to open a cricket / lifeskills Academy in Sri Lanka.
21st 2014/15
Celebrated success on the playing fields:
Christchurch BHS won the Gillette Cup for
second time in succession, Canterbury won the
Plunket Shield, and North Canterbury the Hawke
Cup. Congratulations to Willowers Cran Bull and
Lee Robinson for their vision in developing
Hagley Oval as a venue for Test cricket.
22nd 2015/16
The first 8-for by a Willows bowler, Callum
Curnow 8/21 v St Bede’s College 1st XI.
23rd 2016/17
A seventh century by David Kelly v King’s High
School 1st XI put him well clear on the individual
honours board for centuries.
24th 2017/18
The first bowler to gain 200 wickets aggregate for
the Club – Andrew Nuttall.
25th 2018/19
Pink Kookaburra cricket balls used for the first
time at The Willows.