HSOB skipper Carl Shaw. Picture by Paul Rickard
The first premier-grade club cricket prize of the season is up for grabs tomorrow.
Carl Shaw's unbeaten Bollywood High School Old Boys outfit go into the 40-over Doleman Cup final with Coastal Concrete Old Boys Rugby as white-hot favourites.
Jason Trowill and Stewart Patrick will be the umpires for the final.
Rain has made it impossible to prepare the regular grounds at Harry Barker Reserve.
That means the Doleman Cup final, set to start at 1pm, and Round 7 matches in the Senior B grade's 30-over Hope Cup competition, set to start at 2pm, may be transferred to the artificial pitches of Nelson Park.
At the time of writing, Recreational Services turf manager Heinrich Putter was still working to enable tomorrow's matches to be held at Harry Barker Reserve, but OBR skipper Nick Greeks knows that a change of surface and venue will necessitate a more aggressive approach.
“Playing at Nelson Park would mean smaller boundaries and consistent bounce,” he said.
“A total of 220-plus puts a batting side in the game on an artificial pitch. The bowlers have to stick to a tight channel outside off stump, and aim to hit the top of the fifth or even sixth stump.”
Steep rising deliveries have always made front-foot play hard at Nelson Park. In 2003, Ilminster wicketkeeper Scott Cranswick set up 15 metres off the boundary, to take future All Black Charlie Ngatai's thunderbolts to Gisborne Girls' High on the second bounce.
OBR will field the side who beat Horouta last weekend. Paul Stewart, who carried his bat for 22 against Te Waka is coming off a good knock of 23 from No.8 for Poverty Bay in their clash with the Mavericks. His younger brother Daniel took 4-6 in last Saturday's semifinal, and Dane Thompson made 53 from No.5 only a week after OBR had passed 200 (209) for the first time this season. Earnest pace bowler Matt Cook then took 5-15.
The 209 OBR put up owed much to left-hander Josh Adams, opener Sean Henry and solid technician Ben McCann. OBR have reason to be both confident and nervous . . . thought by some to be the ideal pre-performance state.
OBR have a bit to prove. Bowling spearhead Jimmy Holden took 2-12 in four overs when OBR and the blue-and-whites last butted heads on November 26.
OBR had opted to bat first on the representative wicket and were bowled out for 60 (HSOB under game-day skipper Dave Castle flattened them by seven wickets) but Holden remains dangerous, durable, and 20-plus years of toil wiser than when he first turned out for the then-OBM first-grade side.
HSOB have played quality cricket since the season began — a five-wicket win against the Galaxy World Gisborne Boys' High School first 11 came first, then a nine wicket-dunking of OBR. The first game against OBR was no contest by the end, as opener Baxter Mackay (37) and first drop Scott Tallott (69) put up a match-winning stand of 112, the finest seen in this Doleman Cup competition to date.
Proof that even quality needs reinforcement was provided three weeks ago. At the top of the order, Mackay and Tallott both got nought, as did Jarrod Renouf at No.4, before first-drop Mitch Hammond brought calm and victory with an unbeaten 43 against OBR.
The competition leaders' margin, in pursuit of 60, was seven wickets but just for a moment — with Holden and his new-ball partner Paul Stewart (1-15 in four overs) hitting the timber three times — OBR were in the game.
In keeping with the Monday match-report's theme of “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”, HSOB skipper Shaw — who has also played for OBR — said: “It's stressful, but an absolute privilege. I'm extremely humbled to have the title of captain and I'm happy that our boys know what's required: to bat in partnerships and value their wickets, bowl to a plan and take the catches on offer.”
Left-arm opening bowler Jak Rowe got rid of some rust in Bollywood HSOB Presidents' three-wicket win against Te Waka last Saturday with 4-19 off three steps. The next morning Rowe grabbed 4-54 against the Hawke's Bay under-19 Mavericks off something like his long run, albeit up the slope.
His angle and swing in from over the wicket to right-handed batsmen always poses a threat of bowled/leg-before-wicket to them.
Off-spinner Castle gave big-hitting batsmen so little to hit that a fortnight ago Horouta could take only 18 runs off Castle in eight overs.
That left-arm orthodox spinner Daniel Torrie took 4-33 while also bowling out is worth thinking about.
This final will be a cracker if both sides get up for it — neither can afford to start badly, whether with bat, ball or in the field.
Tallott proved in his 77 from 96 balls with a six and nine fours in High School Old Boys' last outing that his Round 2 heroics with Mackay was no flash in the pan. His best is what the team need in their bid to retain the trophy.
Both sides in tomorrow's Doleman Cup final are used to the concrete decks at Nelson Park. Poverty Bay umpire manager Trowill, formerly of the Ellerslie club, reports that all of Auckland's junior teams play on artificial pitches as a matter of routine. That is a good reason for the players here to be grateful that they play their cricket in Gisborne, as opposed to Auckland, with all being welcome to play on the Harry Barker grass pitches — by right — when conditions allow.