HSOB begin defence

Gisborne Boys' High School Blues and Royals' six-wicket win over the Campion College second 11 in round 1 of the secondary schools’ Year 9-11 Challenge Cup officially led off organised cricket in Poverty Bay on Wednesday.

All three junior leagues will be based at Nelson Park, with Primary Hardball for Y5-6 under 11s from 3.30pm today and the u13 Colts T20 getting under way at 9am on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, from 12pm on Harry Barker Reserve ground 3, Dave Castle's Bollywood High School Old Boys' — holders of the 40-over Doleman Cup — will begin an eight-week mission to retain that iconic trophy against Coastal Concrete Old Boys' Rugby, while the Gisborne Boys' High School first 11 host Breakers Horouta Te Waka on HBR1.

All-conquering HSOB, who completed a perfect season in 2022-2023, will defend the five-game DJ Barry Cup two-day title from January 13, 2024 and eight-game T20 Walker Shield every second week from November 16 to complete the Premier Grade season.

Castle will have the blue and whites thinking big.

"We've been training well, bonded now and are extremely excited to start the season," said the man who led Bollywood Poverty Bay to victory by 10 runs v Northern Districts Māori here in February.

"We look forward to a serious challenge from OBR, who provide big battles. Excellent recruitment has them looking stronger than ever; we, as always, look forward to showcasing our skills."

OBR, whose skipper Nick Greeks last season fought harder than any in their cause, indeed has good material to work with.

Former Northern Districts under 19 and Poverty Bay men's senior representative pace bowler Hayden Keast will join match-winning all-rounder Dane Thompson in the ranks.  Te-Reimana Gray and Josh Adams are left-handed batsmen as different in technique and approach as can be imagined. Jimmy Holden and Matt Cook have moved beyond being great servants of their club to near-statesmen of the game, so consistent are they in their good citizenship as cricketers.

On that note, the Poverty Bay Cricket Association and current head of umpires Jason Trowill wish the players and captains of all junior teams to be set the best example by senior club cricketers: no foul language, cigarettes, vaping etc on the field during play or at breaks in a day's play.

In terms of team uniform worn correctly, that ought to extend to shirts being tucked in — if it was good enough for the great fast bowler Dennis Lillee to do so after every ball during long spells at test level, lesser lights elsewhere have no excuse: dress like a cricketer, look like one, act like one.

David McDonald is coaching a Gisborne Boys' first 11 who last season took a Super 8 scalp, that of Rotorua, by 70 runs at Alice Johnson Oval in Papamoa in March.

The team has been boosted by the presence of the Gray brothers, David and Johnathan, another all-rounder of promise in Nathaniel Fearnley, leader of the pace attack Bekko Page and Alex Shanks, whose 71 from No.5 v Horouta put Gisborne Boys' in a strong position at the end of Day 1, Round 2 of the last DJ Barry Cup — a competition so affected by rain that only two outright wins were taken.

Horouta will once more go forth under David Situ, who must have pinched himself when — having won the coin toss and elected to bat v OBR on the representative wicket in Game 1 of last year's Doleman Cup — he saw his green and gold batsmen post three half-centuries, one an unbeaten 65 by seventh man in Bruno Judd, en route to 246 with one ball remaining. They beat OBR by 93 runs on Te Waka's best day of the summer.

None who starred on October 29 are in this side, but Situ has said that his fellow opener Ben Brick, vice-captain Shubham Raihan and leg-spinner Vinay Patel are up for the contest this weekend on behalf of Te Waka, who are known for their unorthodox, all-guns-blazing approach with willow in hand.

They will be tested by Page, Fearnley and the Grays, with the possibility of left-arm orthodox spinner Riker Rolls making a return to cricket. Johny Gray will, as a left-armer, also provide variety.

Senior B champions the Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps under Ryan West beat Rawhiti Legal Old Boys' Rugby by eight wickets on March 25 to claim the Hope Cup for the second time.

The competition format features 15 rounds, semifinals and a final on March 16 with a 2pm start time in those 30-over matches.

Tomorrow Round 1 will be played on Nelson Park's artificial pitches, with a replay of last season's final on ground 1A, a Jeff Chambers-led Bollywood HSOB Presidents crew to play the Campion College first 11 on 2A, and the GBHS second 11 to take on Breakers Horouta Te Waka on 4A.

Chambers is deputising for wicketkeeper Ollie Needham, who will run the Auckland marathon on Sunday.

Needham, who will draw from a father and son combination in Tom and Blake Crosby, John Phelps and other experienced cricketers of ability, is enthusiastic about what the summer holds in store.

Elements of both the HSOB premier and B Grade sides have been in harness since September and have welcomed new players into both set-ups.

It would not do to forget that one of the best duels local cricket threw up last season was left-arm orthodox spinner Crosby senior v OBR 'keeper-batsman Thom Berry in the 1 v 4 Hope Cup semifinal.

An injured Crosby took 2-13 in six overs, Berry carried his bat for 55 and OBR ended the blue and whites' unbeaten streak at 11.

Until then, neither HSOB senior club side had tasted defeat that summer. The skill and subtlety of the bowler, the nerve and watchfulness of the batsman, on that day were unmatched in either grade all season.

If young cricketers could have watched just one game of club cricket closely enough to appreciate a contest within a contest in 2022-2023, it ought to have been that.

Campion College coach Mark Naden's team will lock horns with HSOB Presidents first up.

Naden said: "We can't wait — we've got a team of good youngsters, well-led by Hamish Swann, Rhys Grogan and Taye McGuinness with support from Aidan Armstrong, Daniel Baillie, Connor Starck: we have a good nucleus to work with."