Gisborne Herald
  • Gisborne Herald Home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport

Locations

  • Gisborne
  • Bay of Plenty
  • Hawke's Bay

Media

  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Gisborne Herald / Sport

Christophers wins 5 trophies as OBR steal the show

Gisborne Herald
18 Mar, 2023 04:18 AMQuick Read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

TROPHIES GALORE: OBR players took home the lion’s share of trophies on offer at the Poverty Bay Cricket Association prize-giving on Saturday night. They are (from left): Kieran Venema, Matt Henwood, Jonathan Purcell, Arun Kurup, Josh Adams, Hamish Evans, Craig Christophers, Matt Cook, Timoti Weir, Cohen Loffler, Jimmy Holden and Ian Loffler.Picture supplied

TROPHIES GALORE: OBR players took home the lion’s share of trophies on offer at the Poverty Bay Cricket Association prize-giving on Saturday night. They are (from left): Kieran Venema, Matt Henwood, Jonathan Purcell, Arun Kurup, Josh Adams, Hamish Evans, Craig Christophers, Matt Cook, Timoti Weir, Cohen Loffler, Jimmy Holden and Ian Loffler.Picture supplied

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

CRICKET

POVERTY Bay Cricket Association’s end-of-season prizegiving turned into the OBR show. Their players collected 11 trophies.

Bain Construction OBR all-rounder Craig Christophers won five, including the big two — the Heikell Cup for player of the year and the Naden Family Cup for representative player of the year — plus recognition as a club century-maker.

“Winning all three team competitions was the goal, especially for those of us who have been playing for a while now,” the 38-year-old Lytton High School assistant principal said.

“Individual awards are the icing on the cake.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“We’ve often won two trophies but never all three and that put a bit of pressure on.

“We didn’t always talk about it but it was in the back of our minds and it’s great to do it.

'We have a couple of unsung heroes - Lexi and Amber'“We have a couple of unsung heroes — Lexi (OBM bowler Matt Cook’s wife) and Amber (Church, partner of Christophers).

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“They never miss a match and I reckon if we needed them to pull on the shirt, they would do it.

“Lexi’s in charge of the drinks (water)for every game and Amber does the scoring and makes sure everyone gets home safe after the games.

“They’re never in any team photos but they’re a big part of the team.”

Christophers took a couple of years off representative duty before making a comeback this season.

“Playing for the reps and travelling for football takes up a lot of time, and then I took a year off school last year to do some extra study.

“That’s been good for me. Playing rep cricket and travelling to Auckland means a seven-hour journey. Then you play two days and travel another seven hours home.

“But I’ve enjoyed playing for the Bay this season.

“Ryan (Majstrovic, Bay selector) has done a good job keeping everyone informed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“There’s good communication between Ryan and Lance (Cairns, Bay coach/selector).

'Playing against the Sri Lanka u19 team was a big highlight'“Playing against the Sri Lanka under-19 team was a big highlight . . . it’s not often you get to play an international team.”

Christophers said bringing in loan players was the right decision, “provided you get the right type of players and we have”.

“Playing in the Basil McBurney (ND second tier) is a good decision at this stage of our development.

“It’s no good going away and getting thrashed.

“You need to be competitive and if we can target the T20 tournament games, get some confidence, then the 50-over games — we can then think about returning to the Fergus Hickey (two-day games) .

“The thing is we lose some of our best young players — Danny Gibbs, Robbie Tallott and Thorn Parkes, to name just three.

“Bringing in some experienced players helps you grow as a team.”

It was a good season for 6-year-old Jimmy HoldenOBR medium-pace bowler Jimmy Holden took home the bowling aggregate, average and blockhole trophies as OBR players made it a virtual procession to the awards table.

It was a good season for the 36-year-old Holden, who returned to the Poverty Bay rep side after an absence of six years.

“I’ve really enjoyed this season and obviously it was good to do the treble,” Holden said.

“We’ve got a great bunch of guys who are all mates off the field and that helps whenever we’re on the field.

“There’s a great club spirit, with a lot of us playing football for United.

“If there is a secret to our success, it’s the fact that we all enjoy each other’s company.”

Holden said he would be back for another season, fitness permitting.

“As long as the body holds together, I’ll keep playing,” he said.

“Making the rep side has been a bonus. I get to work with a New Zealand cricket legend (Lance Cairns) and not many local club players around the country get the opportunity to do that.”

Five OBR cricketers — Christophers, Holden, Jonathan Purcell, Timoti Weir and Josh Adams — were members of the Heavy Equipment Gisborne United football team who won the Eastern League Division 1 title, Round 1 trophy and Bailey Cup last year.

Junior men’s awards

Wynn Barton Memorial (most promising Year 9/10): Matt McNeil.

U16 player of the year: Matt McNeil.

U17 player of the year: Paul Stewart.

U19 player of the year: Thorn Parkes.

HOPE Cup awards

SK White Cup (efficiency): Horouta.

Bradley Cup (most improved): Blake Marshall.

H H Barker Cup (batting average): Mark Naden.

Carroll Cup (bowling average): Peter Kapene.

PBCA Shield (all-rounder): Tushar Balat.

Hayes Family Cup (batting aggregate): Mark Naden.

Kyber Hardware Cup (runners-up): Campion College.

Hope Cup (winners): Gisborne Boys’ High School.

PREMIER AWARDS

Bob Carswell Memorial (efficiency): High School Old Boys.

Wilkie Cup (most improved): Scott Hollinshead.

Fraser Shield (batting DJ Barry and Doleman Cup): Craig Christophers (623 at 62).

Chrisp Cup (bowling average, minimum 20 wickets): Jimmy Holden (30 at 10.57).

Hayes Family Cup (bowling aggregate): Jimmy Holden.

Stewart Cup (all-rounder): Craig Christophers.

Poverty Bay Cricket Association Trophy (highest batting average, min 300 runs): Craig Christophers.

Boom Boom Trophy (batting aggregate Walker Shield): Carl Shaw (204, strike rate 110).

Block Hole Trophy (Most economical bowler, three or more games): Jimmy Holden.

Boon Cup (fastest 50): Ajay Kumar.

W B Miller Cup (fielding): Josh Adams.

Kevin Hollis Glass Cup (second-round round-robin winners): HSOB.

Phelps Trophy (Doleman Cup runners-up): Pirates.

Doleman Cup (winners): OBR.

Alahambra Shield (runners-up one day championship): HSOB.

DJ Barry Cup (winners): OBR.

GENERAL AWARDS

Naden Family Cup (representative player of the year): Craig Christophers.

Heikell Cup (player of the year): Craig Christophers.

Rees Scragg Memorial Trophy (service to cricket): Mark Naden.

Services to PBCA (groundsman): Rowan Clark.

Services to PBCA (scoring): Clarence Campbell.

Services to PBCA (umpiring): Jason Trowell, Gary Coutts, Tony Lee, Ben O’Brien-Leaf.

Northern Districts representative (u19): Thorn Parkes.

ND representative (Maori men): Timoti Weir.

Poverty Bay representative centuries (women): Mel Knight (127not out v Palmerston North).

Poverty Bay representative taking six wickets: Jonathan Purcell (6-38 v Waikato Valley).

Poverty Bay club centuries: Craig Christophers.

Poverty Bay club cricketers taking six wickets: Arun Kurup (6-8), Matt Cook (6-20), Jimmy Holden (8-7), Jonathan Purcell (7-15).

Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Sport

Sport

Reign supreme: Four years in a row for King William

Sport

Gimme five: Boyder on target for Traktion

Sport

Opening night a whitewash of 6-0 scorelines


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Reign supreme: Four years in a row for King William
Sport

Reign supreme: Four years in a row for King William

Brown wielded a deadly sword in a crushing 12th-hole victory in the championship final.

29 Jul 06:00 AM
Gimme five: Boyder on target for Traktion
Sport

Gimme five: Boyder on target for Traktion

29 Jul 12:30 AM
Opening night a whitewash of 6-0 scorelines
Sport

Opening night a whitewash of 6-0 scorelines

28 Jul 10:09 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Gisborne Herald
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Gisborne Herald
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP