Napier Tech swept all of the trophies for the 2025/26 premier club cricket season. Photo / Carl Gundersen
– This article is provided courtesy of Hawke’s Bay Cricket Association
A bit of history, a touch of class and a warning shot for the future marked Napier Technical Old Boys’ coronation as Hawke’s Bay’s dominant club cricket side.
In beating Havelock North by 150 runs in Sunday’s MJF Shrimpton Memorial Cup 50-over final at Nelson Park, Tech completed a clean sweep of premier men’s titles. Already winners of this summer’s overall championship and Twenty20 trophies, this Tech side confirmed its status as one of the best units in the club’s history.
Club trebles are rare but this Tech team achieved it with ease on Sunday, posting 317/8 and then bowling out Havelock North for 167.
“It’s an absolutely amazing feat,” Tech player-coach Christian Leopard said.
“Every season we seem to think we’re going downhill, but we somehow find a way to keep going and the boys keep putting out the performances.
“The club’s in good stead for a few more years yet.”
Especially while the 28-year-old Leopard keeps playing. He scored 112 from 102 balls on Sunday, to underline how much better he is than every other batter in the province. There’s the odd player who’s similarly stylish or prolific, but none have quite his command at the crease.
If Leopard’s in the mood to bat, as he was against Havelock North, teams end up chasing a lot of leather.
“It’s about being hungry. You’re only ever about 20 minutes away from the score you want to be at, so it’s just about surviving through that time and reminding yourself that you’ll get that over where you score 15 and set yourself up,” said Leopard.
“It might not come in the first 10 overs but, if you hang around, you know it’ll get easier.
“Also, every time I play for Tech I want to win. When I was a youngster coming into Tech, there were guys like Stevie Smidt, Liam Rukuwai and Bronson Meehan and you could see the passion they had and straight away I picked that up because I just loved playing cricket and had a lot of energy.
“I’m trying to make sure the next guys see that as well so that when I go they can hopefully carry it on.”
Teenage legspinner Harry Beale represents the next generation. Havelock’s pursuit of 318 started in promising fashion, but it was Beale and English seamer Kieran Atkinson whose bowling through the middle overs was critical.
Backed by outstanding fielding, the pair took seven wickets between them and demonstrated Havelock’s inability to battle through the 20 minutes Leopard talked about.
Atkinson claimed the prize scalp of Taylor Bettelheim for 65 as part of a carefully crafted plan.
“Their release shot seemed to be charging and going over extra [cover], so the plan was to bowl as straight as possible and at waist height,” Atkinson said after taking 3-39 and bowling his allotted 10 overs straight.
“I didn’t actually see the Bettelheim ball, because I fell over. I just heard someone say ‘catch it’ and saw [wicketkeeper] Baylee Foote was under the ball.”
Atkinson, in his second with the club, was an unsung hero. His accuracy and ability to vary his pace made him effective as the competition wore on.
“Jayden [Lennox] was the captain when I was here last time [in 2019/20] and to see him go on to the Black Caps and to play with him in the final and win all three trophies has been a real pleasure. I’d love to come back, but I’ve got a feeling this is the last game I’ll ever play for Tech so it was a great way to go out.”
Lennox, fresh from running drinks for New Zealand in their Twenty20 series against South Africa, was a surprise addition to the Tech lineup for finals weekend. He played an important role in the three-wicket semi-final win over Cornwall on Saturday, then did a fine job coaching Beale through his 4-33 on Sunday.
Chasing 153 at Cornwall Park, Tech were 58/5 when Foote was trapped lbw by Bryce Green. Having gone into the semi-final after back-to-back defeats, Tech needed someone to take ownership and that was skipper Todd Watson.
He finished 49 not out to guide his team to victory and set up Sunday’s eventual celebration.
“It took a bit of graft and a bit of accountability,” Watson said of his semi-final innings.
“I’ll put my hand up and say I haven’t put enough respect on my wicket and I decided I wasn’t going to get myself out. If there was a ball with my name on it, then so be it. It was a time when I had to stand up and I was fortunate to do that.
“We know how to win in finals cricket and we did that.”
Leopard went further than that, in explaining Tech’s remarkable ability to deliver when it matters.
He and Watson tweaked game plans and batting orders in an attempt to rectify the team’s slight end-of-season slump, but the biggest area for attention was attitude.
“We know we’ll get up when it comes to finals, because we’ve been there so many times. We know what we need to do but I think other teams know that as well, which gives us a head start coming into games,” Leopard said.
That was evident on Sunday, with one team rising to the occasion and the other not. Havelock were comfortable six-wicket winners over Central Hawke’s Bay in their semi-final at Anderson Park, but lacked the same assurance in the decider.
“We’d come in quite confident as the No 1 seed and were hoping to get one over Tech, but we weren’t able to do it,” Havelock captain Kane Addison said.
“Overall, it’s a disappointing season to walk away having not won anything. We’ve got a great group of players who are highly talented and I feel like we’ve got the best squad in the league and to not win a trophy is disappointing.
“We do a lot of good things, but we’ve got to do those good things for longer in the season.”
Semi-final results
Central Hawke’s Bay 168 (Angus Jaspers 34, Thomas Zohrab 28, Harry Clinton-Baker 27; Kane Addison 2-14, Aidan Golding 2-14, Harvey Ives 2-34, Sam Cassidy 2-39) lost to Havelock North 169/4 (Taylor Bettelheim 77 not out, Sam Cassidy 29, Sam Ferguson 24 not out, Will Clark 21; Angus Schaw 2-32) by six wickets
Cornwall 152 (Bayley Wiggins 44, Bailey McDonald 32 not out; Kieran Atkinson 5-22, Bayley Latter 2-32, Todd Watson 2-47) lost to Napier Technical Old Boys 153/7 (Todd Watson 49 not out, Bayley Latter 27, Charlie Pawson 23; Bryce Green 3-33, Logan Ryniker-Doull 2-7, Jed Greville 2-40) by three wickets
Final result
Napier Technical Old Boys 317/8 (Christian Leopard 112, Harrison Woolley 71, Baylee Foote 54, Bayley Latter 26, Todd Watson 20; Kane Addison 2-41, Sam Cassidy 2-54, Aidan Golding 2-58) beat Havelock North 167 (Taylor Bettelheim 65, Will Clark 51; Harry Beale 4-33, Kieran Atkinson 3-39) by 150 runs