ough draw for Rathkeale in Gillette Cup finals

As draws go Rathkeale College couldn't have been set a more testing assignment for the finals of the Gillette Cup national secondary schoolboys cricket competition to be played in Palmerson North from tomorrow through until Sunday.
They play 2004 joint winners Kings College of Auckland in their opening match tomorrow and then Tauranga Boys High, who shared the title with Christchurch Boys High last year, in their second game on Friday.
And then they will face Otago Boys High in the last of their pool games on Saturday, another huge challenge when you consider that since the Gillette Cup was inaugurated in 1990 only one school, Palmerston Boys High, has made more finals than the Dunedin-based side.
PNBHS have reached the finals eight times and Otago Boys and King College seven. In comparison this is Rathkeale College's third appearance, finishing third equal last year and fourth in 1997 when, interestingly enough, they were coached by Dick Kendall, who has returned to that role this year.
Kendall agrees the draw has probably done Rathkeale College no favours but he has confidence in his side's ability to be the "dark horses" of the competition.
"We're only a small school compared to the others and I guess we will be seen as the underdogs in most of the games we play, "Kendall said. "The surprise element could be our biggest advantage. I think our opposition are going to be quite surprised just how strong we really are."
Having former New Zealand pace bowler Brendon Bracewell as their trainer is a major plus for Rathkeale whose bowling attack should compare favourably with any other of the seven participants, the second pool containing Hamilton Boys High, Palmerston North Boys High, St Pats College (Silverstream) and Christchurch Boys High.
Bracewell's own son Doug was a regular member of the Wairarapa senior squad last season and is the highest profile player amongst a talented group of medium pacers also including Dean van Deventer, Brock Price, Jamie Willetts and Daniel Fleming, the latter a son of former Wairarapa-Bush rugby flanker Mike Fleming, these days resident in Christchurch.
And if they don't wreak havoc amongst the opposing batting line-ups then a couple of quality spinners in skipper Simon Clinton-Baker and Andy Dodd- both of whom were also part of the Wairarapa senior squad last season- are proven wicket takers as well..
Kendall says having so many players capable of restricting runs and taking wickets through maintaining a consistent line and length was undoubtedly Rathkeale's main attribute.
"It's always good to know that if you have one or two bowlers who are struggling with their form there are plenty of others who can step in and do the job," he said.
The Rathkeale coach is well aware, however, that no matter how strong the attack they will only influence results if they have sufficient runs to play with, and there are question marks over Rathkeale's performance in that area.
It's not that they don't have the batting resources to score heavily because they certainly do, rather that most of their more prolific rungetters are what Kendall labels as "free spirits" whose aggressiveness can be their undoing.
"It's probably fair to say the batting has quite a high risk factor about it . They like to go for their shots no matter what the state of the game," Kendall said.
"We don't want to curb that positiveness though, it's just a matter of making it work for us rather than having the other effect".
It is a mark of the all-round skills of many of the Rathkeale players that the likes of Bracewell, Price, van Deventer, Dodd and Clinton-Baker are also among their leading batsmen.
Opener Andy Oldfield, Matt Dalley, Anton Ross, Cole Eru and wicketkeeper Richard French are also expected to make an impact in that department.
Coach Kendall believes that if Rathkeale can score 200-plus runs in their games then the quality and depth of their bowling will give them every opportunity to win.
"You can't expect one area of the game to hold up the other. We have to bat well and bowl well, anything else won't be good enough," he said.