Tauranga teacher’s tough lesson for pupils in club cricket final

A teacher in his day job, Greerton Cricket Club batsman Charles Williams forced some of his pupils to slowly count to 171 during last month’s Premier Bay Cup final in Tauranga.

That’s the total Williams scored batting for Greerton against the Tauranga Boys’ College 1st XI.

On weekends, Williams plays for Greerton Cricket Club in the top Bay of Plenty men’s competition; the Tauranga Boys’ College 1st XV also plays in the senior cricket competition. The two sides met in last month’s Bay of Plenty Cup final, continuing a healthy rivalry between Williams and the student-athletes.

The 40-year-old teacher spoke with the Herald about Greerton’s 310-run victory over a team he knows very well, saying there was banter and “little niggles from the older guys” in the days leading up to the match. Because the players know each other so well, there were “sly digs throughout the game”, the teacher said.

“If I hit a boundary off someone, I would tell them to go fetch it or something like that,” Williams laughed. “But then they’ll beat my bat and almost get me out and dish it back to me.”

The social studies and psychology teacher, who used to coach the school side, explained the banter was “healthy” and all in “good spirit”.

“The last game actually, Seb Heath, the school captain, bowled a bouncer and it hit me in the head and I had to retire hurt from that game.

“So there were a few words about that when I was walking out to bat [in the final].”

Heath, the 16-year-old skipper of the schoolboy side, said “we were pretty fired up”.

“We were really looking forward to bowling against Mr Williams. Last time we played, seeing him walk off with a big bruise on his chin, we thought this time we’d run in hard and try to get him early.”

But Heath confessed that during the Bay Cup final “balls were flying everywhere” from Williams’ bat, as the teacher delivered a harsh lesson.

In the two-day match, the experienced Greerton squad batted the entire first day. They had a simple plan: “Tire the boys as well as scoring runs,” said Williams.

Greerton scored 449 runs, before bowling out the school side for 139 on the second day.

“We had about 450 runs for them to chase which was pretty much impossible for them to do unless they batted out of their skins on the second day.”

Had the runs been on the other side of the scorecard, Williams agreed that the comments would have been exactly the same from the schoolboys.

“We would have congratulated them, but given them a bit of slack on the way,” he said. “It’s never sinister... just really good fun.”

On the field, Williams might be the youngsters’ biggest rival, but off the field, he says he is “absolutely” the schoolboy side’s biggest supporter.

The school has been in the men’s club competition for more than 50 years after being simply too good rival colleges. But Williams acknowledged it was “pretty much unheard of” for the boys to be in that final.

“To beat them was good, but the way they kept at it and didn’t drop their heads after a day in the field, it was really pleasing to play against them, and see them grow.

“I coached them before and I was a student here as well so I went through all the stuff they’ve been through.”

Williams said he always follows what they’re doing and helps out when he can. “I still go away with the boys on trips and tournaments.”

The school has a rich history of producing talented cricketers. Recent Black Caps captain Kane Williamson was a schoolboy star at Tauranga Boys’ College, and John and Michael Bracewell both played for the 1st XI.

The boys finished second in the country last year and are now looking to go one step further.

Williams said the schoolboy side was well-placed for next season. “We’re really lucky that our top five batsmen are coming back which is usually not the case — we usually lose quite a few players when the year 13′s move on.”

Heath said his teammates were “hungry” to become the best school in New Zealand, when the national tournament comes around in December. And they’re hoping for an opportunity to dish out a lesson of their own to Mr Williams and Greerton Cricket Club along the way.