His time with the bat was short-lived but Trent Boult returned from injury unscathed for his club side Cadets on Saturday. Photo / George Novak
His time with the bat was short-lived but Trent Boult returned from injury unscathed for his club side Cadets on Saturday. Photo / George Novak
Club cricket attracts a wide range of players, from the veterans to the young up and comers. On Saturday, the Baywide competition was graced by one of New Zealand's greats.
Imagine you show up for club cricket on a Saturday and when you look over at the opposition you see a Black Cap warming up.
That was the case for Generation Homes Lake Taupō on Saturday when they travelled to play Element IMF Cadets who boasted the number one ranked ODI bowler Trent Boult in their line-up.
Boult hasn't played since he broke his hand in the Boxing Day test against Australia but is set to return for the Black Caps in the first test against India on Friday.
"I always love coming back to the club and whenever I do get an opportunity I like to turn out and give back to the club in a way, it's nice to be here this afternoon," Boult said.
Cadets batted first and scored 175 runs. While Boult only managed a couple himself, he did get to bat with his brother and captain Jono Boult, something the pair did plenty of growing up.
"It's nice to be here with my older brother, I've been here ever since he has and it's great to be able to put the pads on and get out there with him as well. He's a big club man and definitely very passionate about the club.
"I've played here since I was about 14 years old and I've played a game every year since then. I'm very passionate about the club and it's great coming back each year to see new faces as well as the old faces I've played with since I was a young kid."
Brothers Trent and Jono Boult spent time at the crease together for Cadets on Saturday. Photo / George Novak
Trent did make his mark with ball however, taking four wickets for just 19 runs. Jono chimed in with 3/21 as the pair led Cadets to a comfortable 109-run victory.
"You never want to be off the field for too long but I guess with a broken hand - you never really know how much you use your hand until you break it. It's healed really well. It's just the catching is the hardest bit and that's probably 80 per cent of my job.
"It's coming along really nicely and I'm looking forward to getting back out there."
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His time on the sidelines was made easier by the fact his Black Caps teammates got the job done without him, sweeping the One Day series against India 3-0.
"The boys did exceptionally well to bounce back from the T20 series and they've been playing some good cricket.
"The test championship is a big focus for a lot of the sides and the test series is really going to be an interesting one to watch, especially from where we've been in Australia and how we've been playing at home.
"The first luxury is it's in home conditions where we know how to play and we've been delivering a style of play for the last few seasons. To have India on our shores is always exciting but they're a quality test side and it will be a big series."
Black Caps bowler Trent Boult makes his way to the crease for Cadets against Lake Taupō. Photo / George Novak
Ball dominated bat just down the road from the Tauranga Domain, where Bond & Co Tauranga Boys' College defended a modest target against Eve's Realty Greerton at Nicholson Field.
Tauranga Boys' batted first and faced a tough second innings after being bowled out for just 90 runs.
However, the Tauranga Boys' bowlers applied real pressure from the opening ball and when the Greerton number 11 was run out, the scorecard showed that the visitors had fallen three runs short of their target.
A run fest took place at the Te Puke Domain between New World Te Puke and Bayleys Central Indians. The Rotorua visitors posted a very solid 231/4 before the home side got home with seven wickets to spare.
Carrus Mount Maunganui cruised to a 10-wicket victory over Geyser City at Smallbone Park in Rotorua.
Versatile Tauranga Williams Cup Results
Geyser City 114 (Cody Fell 34no; Nick Smith 3/8, Mitchell Fergus 3/31, Henry Conway 2/15) lost to Mount Maunganui 116/0 (Peter Drysdale 62no, Matt Golding 50no).
Tauranga Boys' College 90 (Tim Clarke 30, B Pentecost 25; Shane Wineti 3/9, Umesh Ranaraja 3/9, Taylor Bettelheim 3/9) beat Greerton 88 (Taylor Bettelheim 22, Tom Renouf 21no; Kieran New 4/18, Tim Pringle 4/26).
Cadets 175 (Jono Boult 35, Andrew Mascall 28, Scott Steward 27, Fergus Lellman 22; Caleb Bates 3/21, Roger Urbhan 2/24) beat Lake Taupō 66 (Trent Boult 4/19, Jono Boult 3/21).
Central Indians 231/4 (Jeff Simmons 78no, Ben Sandford 50no, Nandeera Nawela 41, Vinay Pathania 32; Tasman Carsons 2/47) lost to Te Puke 232/3 (Blair McKenzie 79, Tai Bridgman- Raison 63, Dillon Preston 36no; Stephen Nicholls 2/49).
