Rathkeale College will join a star-studded field when the finals of the Gillette Cup national secondary schoolboys cricket competition get unde rway in Palmerston North on December 14. Of the other seven teams to qualify for the playoffs Christchurch Boys High and Tauranga Boys shared the title last year when thedecider was rained out and the finalists in 2004, King College of Auckland and Palmerston North Boys High, are back again as well. Weather intervened there too and they were declared joint winners. Each region represented in the Cup eliminations have one team in the grand finals, apart from Northern Districts and Central Districts both of whom have two as they provided the greatest number of entrants. Tauranga Boys and Hamilton Boys will line up for Northern Districts after beating Whangarei Boys High and St Peters Schoo;l (Camrbridge) respectively in their deciding matches and Rathkeale College and Palmerston North Boys High are the Central Districts reps after disposing off Wanganui Collegiate and Horowhenua College respectively. King College beat St Kentigerns College in the Auckland final while St Pats College (Silverstream) beat Hutt International School in the Wellington final, Christchurch Boys high beat St Bedes College in the Canterbury final and Otago Boys High beat Kings High in the Otago final. For the Rathkeale side it is their second trip to the Gillete Cup finals in as many years. They were third in 2005 with many of the that side still involved this season, including Wairarapa senior reps Doug Bracewell, Andy Dodd and Simon-Clinton Baker. The ease of their win over Wanganui Collegiate was indicative of the strength of the current Rathkeale line-up. They made 197-8 in their 50 overs sand and after having Wanganui Collegiate in deep strife at 56-6 they claimed their last four wickets with no addition to that score, giving Rathkeale a commanding 141-run win.
