Final day vs Tauranga Boys’ College We remained undefeated, sitting at the top of the table with the highest run rate of the tournament. Tauranga needed to beat us by 150 runs to win, almost an impossible task, and it was raining. As we waited, I pondered this team, this day, and the past five years with this group of young men. They were about to achieve something special. They had just 600 balls left as a team that would never be the same cricket team again. Thirteen of these 14 boys would leave College, with three going to England (two to play cricket and one as a gap student). One was going to the United States on a basketball scholarship, one was going to Melbourne, planning to study to be a doctor, and one was going to the Cook Islands to do his scuba diving internship. The rest would be spread between Victoria and Otago universities. They would leave a big hole at College but, fortunately, they had paved the way for another special group of boys to follow. They arrived five years ago – as fresh- faced youngsters – into a changing cricket programme. They spent some of their training sessions putting up the old steel fencing that acted as their net and then taking it down. They were split into a couple of Year 9 A teams, and their Christ’s College journey commenced. Winning that competition and the following year being split into two Colts teams, who played the final against each other, created such a buzz and competitiveness in them all. Craig Aitken, who inspired so many young cricketers, took most of them the following year into his Development XI team. Craig was able to continue nurturing and developing them into good young cricketers. Dayle Hadlee mentored the bowlers and before long they were away. Along came Ben Williams, who finetuned the batsmen, and College Cricket was starting to take shape. Then, Ben Breitmeyer came to College in Year 11 and with him we got his amazing parents. Emma took all the photos and his father got the barbecue going for a hearty lunch.
What a privilege it was to see Ollie and Tim Seeto bat to the conditions, under extreme pressure from top- class bowling. Cricket was certainly a big winner this morning. Ollie and Tim put on a partnership of 149. College were running at about four an over, so 300 was not going to be threatened today. Ollie was out for a superb 81 and we witnessed Harry Sharr playing a blistering innings of 38 from 37 balls, which put College at 5 runs per over. College then lost some quick wickets until Matt Hocquard came in and Tim Seeto remained. College finished with a respectable 265, with Tim finishing 107 not out and Matt chiming in with 14 runs from 9 balls. Was this enough? We felt we were a tad below par and would have to work hard to defend that total. Napier went in hard without the loss of a wicket. College was showing signs of pressure, having dropped three difficult catching chances. It was Napier’s game to lose at this point. A former College cricket, hockey and academic icon Graeme Worner came to watch, and we all felt that this was a good omen. He was in the tent no longer than two minutes when Ben Breitmeyer took a crucial wicket and Napier was 74/1 and still in the driving seat. With catches still going to ground, College looked to be struggling. We then welcomed Hamish Falls-Anderson and Matt Lewis to the attack. The Napier run rate slowed to under 4 and the opposition was under pressure. Tom Harrison came in for Matt Lewis and kept the run rate at 4 an over. These three effectively put College back in the game. With the pressure now on Napier, it started to lose quick wickets under pressure and at 8/196, the Napier No.6 batsman started scoring at will. All of a sudden, Napier needed 25 off 14 balls with a wicket in hand and was back in the game. Its 9th wicket partnership was 43, and an amazing runout by Rob McLean from the boundary gave College the advantage. The last Napier wicket fell in the 49th over, with Napier 25 runs short.
College now sat at the top of the table with two of the toughest teams left to play – Otago Boys’ High School and Tauranga Boys’ College. A huge thanks to all College staff and boys who supported the team – it was appreciated by us all. Round 4 17 December 2022, Lincoln Green, Lincoln Otago Boys’ High School 1st XI (108, 27.4 overs) vs Christ’s College 1st XI (111/3, 21.3 overs) College won by 7 wickets Matt Hocquard 2/22 (10 overs) Tom Harrison 2/23 (4 overs) Hamish Falls-Anderson 2/9 (3.4 overs)
Tim Seeto 44* Matt Lewis 32 Harry Sharr 23* Match Report
Even after a rest day, it seemed the week would never end. Facing 250 overs in six days was a big ask and day four of the Gillette week presented a major obstacle against an Otago team in great form. Otago won the toss and decided to bat. College struggled with its line and length and Otago was quickly at 5 an over, but losing wickets at regular intervals. Matt Hocquard at 2/22 off 10 was the pick of the College bowlers with his persistent line and length. Tom Harrison also bowled a fine spell, taking 2/23. The College attack was one to be feared and there always seemed to be two or three bowlers who could change the course of a match. Otago finished all out in the 27th over for 110. It was College’s game to lose. It happened quickly. Matt Lewis was still smarting from his duck against Napier and was keen to get into it. Otago opened with a leg spinner and a quickie and Tim Seeto and Matt took 68 runs off the first 10 overs. In the blink of an eye, the game was effectively over. Harry Sharr proved his class again with 23 not out and College walked off after 21 overs with a win.
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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