“We’ve got a core of players who have been together for four seasons, mixed with the new players, returning players and Marty Brandso and Jason Brooks, back for their second season.
“We’ve fundraised together, helped each other out and are a collection of unlikely friends united by a love of cricket.”
Greg said his players were “quite familiar with HSOB”.
“We often have one or two of them training with us and both teams (HSOB and Pirates) will be strengthened by their university students.
“We just have to keep doing the basics well, and support each other.”
Horouta will be without Clarence Campbell, Kieran Blair and Quentin Mill this weekend.
A formidable partnershipBrandso and Blake Taylor have formed a formidable opening bowling partnership, and receive support from Keegan Martin, Sukhi Karpania, Phoebe Taylor and Billy Morse.
“In the batting line-up, we have Warren Milligan and me returning to help Bryan Forde, Marty, Francis Gray, and Keegan Martin,” Greg Taylor said.
“Amit Vyas and Dogar Puria will be looking to add runs after starts last week.”
Horouta team members range in age from 15 to 46.
“We’ve got four teenagers, a group of 20-somethings and some senior players to provide experience and guidance,” Greg Taylor said.
“Keegan Martin, a talented left-handed batsman, has been impressing at training. He’s always there, always giving his all. He has debuted for Poverty Bay and is looking to build on his experiences in Queensland and his time in Poverty Bay age-group rep teams. He’s also a good slips fielder.
“Kieran (Blair) is a handy bowler and we’ll miss him this weekend.
“He’s proved to be a very good recruit, with a nice smooth bowling action and a safe pair of hands. He’s shown real grit out in the middle when wickets were tumbling. Kieran’s in his first season with Horouta.”
¦ Landmark Homes Bain Construction OBR club captain Ian Loffler said his team would look to bat a lot better than they did last week when they play Gisborne Boys’ High School (2) tomorrow.
First defeat in three gamesLast week OBR lost to Boys’ High (1), their first defeat in three games, and with a bye on Sunday OBR should end the weekend on 12 points.
“We batted pretty average and gave our wickets away too often,” Loffler said.
“All that was needed was one good partnership of 50 or more in the top five.”
Former Poverty Bay top-order batsman Carl Carmody has returned from Rarotonga, following spells in Australia and England, and will boost the OBR batting.
“We’ll also have Nick Greeks available after injury, which is good as Matt Henwood and Kieran Venema are out, and Evan Mooney and Timoti Weir might also be unavailable,” Loffler said.
Boys’ High player-coach Paul Jefferson was happy with his side following a loss to Tamarind HSOB last week.
“We came back well after tea,” Jefferson said.
“We conceded 90 off 17 overs and picked up five wickets against adults on short boundaries, which is good for the young lads.
“In terms of the batting, it was a big ask for the two young openers (Angus Osler and Peter Kapene) to chase down 200 odd, but they applied themselves well.
“They’re both learning the game and unfortunately got bogged down.
“They needed to rotate the strike more.”
¦ Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates are back in action after a bye last week and skipper Mitchell Turner’s side should go into Sunday’s clash with Horouta on the back of a win against an unpredictable Campion College team.
“Campion and Horouta have stronger line-ups than last year; it’s all about who turns up on the day,” said Turner, who welcomes back the Needham brothers Richie and Tom (from university).
“Richie and Tom offer us more all around the park — batting, bowling and fielding. Campion and Horouta have stronger line-ups than last year but it’s all about who turns up on the day.”
Campion will again be without co-captain Caleb Greaves, who is on refereeing duties at the Weka rugby sevens tomorrow but will play against Boys’ High on Sunday.
Patrick Mathers, who missed last week’s loss to Horouta, returns. That’s a huge bonus for Campion.
“He’s been our most consistent bowler this season,” Greaves said.
Greaves said that while Mathers was the spearhead, Sam Patterson’s bowling had come on “immensely” since last season.
“He consistently bowls good balls at training and is really working hard on his all-round game, and this has shown out in the middle each Saturday.
“In the batting, James (Torrie) and Hunter (Jones) will be crucial for us at the top of the order tomorrow.
“We have guys who can bat well but we need them to show that against a tricky bowling attack.”
