Secondary school pride on the line

Secondary school pride goes on the line today in round four of the Rotorua Senior Reserve Grade cricket competition.

In what should be one of the games of the round, Western Heights High School and John Paul College go head to head at Rotorua's home of cricket, Smallbone Park.

The board has been stacked full of runs over the past week, with nearly 500 runs scored last week when Central's premier team took on and lost to Mount Maunganui.

John Paul College player/coach Mark Chapman will be hoping the MetService's prediction of rain for the city is incorrect so he can continue his rich vein of form with the bat. Chapman compiled an unbeaten 145 against Geyser City last week and his side have shown glimpses in the past three rounds of form that could take the title.

While Heights struggled to hold back a rampant Central side last weekend, they showed in their win over Geyser in round one that they shouldn't be taken lightly.

Meanwhile, Rotorua Boys High School will travel to Taupo to take on Taupo College. Both schools had wins last weekend, over Taupo Wanderers and Bay of Plenty Indians respectively. Against last year's champions, Rotorua showed they can build an innings, with L Robinson 54 and R Gosai 31 both getting runs last week. Taupo also have guys who know how to swing the willow, with A Keith (49 not out) and M Hargreaves (43) showing they know how to put together a total.

Back in Rotorua, the in-form Central team play down-on-their-luck Geyser. Central build their success on a batting line-up that has class written all over it, with most of their top-order batsmen scoring half centuries over the past few weeks.

However, Geyser will be keen to show the Downs brothers (John and Richard) it was a mistake to pull up stumps with their side and move to Central. But equally the two brothers will be wanting to make a point to their former club.

In the final match of the round, the Indians host the Wanderers. Both sides will be keen to get back into the wins margin. The two sides will be equally frustrated with their form this season.

All games get underway at 12.30pm today.

Rotorua Senior Reserve Grade draw: Western Heights High School v John Paul College, Smallbone Park; Indians v Wanderers, Boord Park 1; Geyser v Central, Boord Park 3; Taupo College v Rotorua Boys High School.