Big games in C Grade tomorrow

File picture

These are big games.

Tomorrow the Gisborne Boys’ High School Colts — unbeaten in the C Grade — play the Primary boys and Campion College meet Gisborne Girls’ High School in nine-a-side Twenty20 cricket.

“They have some great young players, such as Sebastian Wilson,” Boys’ High captain Daniel Stewart said.

“We’ve improved in our batting — looking for gaps, calling, running quick singles — and our bowling has improved a lot, but our fielding still needs work.”

First cousins Matt Foster and Nathan Trowell opened the batting and retired — each having faced 20 balls — in the Boys’ High 132-run win against Girls’ High last Wednesday.

Boys’ High batsmen DJ Penfold and Ben Phelps are also strong players who can hit the ball well, but Wilson, fellow right-arm seamer Peter Reynolds and leg-spinner Dylan Foster are capable bowlers.

Primary co-captain Angus Baker said: “I’d like our team to bat well. We have to be disciplined.”

Last week, Foster was both patient and selective when playing his shots. His 18 against Campion was an impressive innings.

Campion captain Max Briant is clear about where he wants his team to impress against Girls’ High.

“We need to value our wicket when we bat and be more alert in the field — if we can do that, I’ll be happy,” he said.

“We have come a long way in fielding terms. Now we hold our catches.”

Three Campion players — Blake Marshall (36 runs), Liam Spring (32) and Liam Barbier (25) — retired last week, but both Tayla Hollis (17) and Girls’ High captain Kayley Knight (14) are members of the Galaxy women’s team and strong all-rounders.

Rubi Perano scored 39 runs off 24 balls against Boys’ High and will doubtless do much the same to Campion, if their bowlers drop it short.

Knight said: “We have lots of new girls who’ve improved their bowling but we haven’t finalised our lineup yet. What we do need to do is field well and bat sensibly.”