And though they face a resurgent Gisborne Boys’ High School First XI under Riker Rolls in the Doleman Cup opener this Saturday, and will do battle with Matt Cook’s Coastal Concrete Old Boys’ Rugby and Breakers Horouta Te Waka after that, the two-time defending champions are powerful at their core.
Off-spin bowling allrounder Castle, well-performed veteran Glen Udall, match-winning left-handed batter Carl Shaw, left-arm opening bowlers Jak Rowe and Keegan Jooste, left-arm orthodox spinner Daniel Torrie, teasingly accurate medium-pacer Nick Armour and arguably the keenest cricketer in the Premier Grade – Pushpinder “Ajay” Kumar – have reinforcements in the form of young chargers Taye McGuinness, Rhys Grogan and Connor Starck, formerly of Campion College First XI.
Castle and his blue and whites are about the here and now.
“We’re working hard to be back at our best, but we will need to start well with both the bat and the ball this weekend,” he said. “Last year, whilst a great achievement, is in the past. We took learnings from last summer and aren’t resting on our laurels.
“It’s also the Gisborne High School Old Boys’ Club’s centenary year, so we’re hoping to do them proud again this summer.”
Talented left-arm orthodox spinner Rolls also wants his new-look Gisborne High School Old Boys First XI to roll their sleeves up and confirmed the boys are keen to play.
Boys’ High will be without Northern Districts Māori representative and left-arm quick Johnathon Gray, twins Akira and Keanu Taumata and regular vice-captain Jarrod Ormiston on Saturday, but ex-captains Bekko Page and Alex Shanks, an allrounder set to come into his own in Nathaniel Fearnley, pinpoint accurate left-arm inswing bowler Caleb Taewa and Malsha Mahabalage will all be on deck, and all are capable cricketers.
Robbie Newlands’ height makes him a pace bowler of potential while the lusty lower-order hitting and rocket-throwing arm of Zyden Worsnop are assets, as will be the improvement of hard-working Alex Langford and ex-Second XI captain Jett Whitaker.
Taking over from Whitaker as captain of the Seconds will be Ted Gillies, a much-improved off-spinning allrounder.
Horouta’s Te Waka are without their last captain, a dangerous batter in Shubham Ralhan – who has returned to Jalandhar in Punjab and will miss the first two Saturdays of the Doleman Cup competition – and tireless club man David Situ, who has shifted to Brisbane.
Ex-High School Old Boys paceman Jagroop Singh will lead Te Waka this weekend.
Teghbir Cheema, the chef who hit 12 sixes and 22 fours in his famous 204 off 122 balls against OBR in 2022, is back from Tongariro National Park and in the mood to hit boundaries.
“We have a squad of 17,” Singh said. “Our boys trained throughout the winter and are dedicated to cricket.”
But it will be far from a cakewalk against an OBR team who feature experienced swing bowlers Cook and Jimmy Holden, Te-Reimana Gray and former Auckland Aces paceman Cody Andrews.
Gray bowls wicket-to-wicket medium-pace and is a stylish left-hand batter.
Amit Vyas, with a flurry of arms, churns out yorkers and moves the ball off the seam.
There is guile in leg-spinner Mana Taumaunu and the steady off-spin of Daniel Stewart, while youngster Harvey Reynolds has stepped up to the top grade after making 27 not out for OBR’s seconds team in a 66 run-win over HSOB Presidents in last season’s Hope Cup final.
Harvey’s talented older brother Jonah took an outstanding 5-18 in six overs in that match and he and Harvey will once again be playing alongside father George, albeit at Premier level.
BOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS: David Castle (c), Nicholas Armour, Rhys Grogan, Keegan Jooste, Pushpinder Kumar, Taye McGuinness, Jak Rowe, Carl Shaw, Connor Starck, Daniel Torrie, Glen Udall.
GISBORNE BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL FIRST XI: Riker Rolls (c), Jarrod Ormiston (vc), Bekko Page, Alex Shanks, Nathaniel Fearnley, Alex Langford, Malsha Mahabalage, Robbie Newlands, Caleb Taewa, François Louw, Zyden Worsnop, Jett Whitaker.
BREAKERS HOROUTA: Jagroop Singh (c), Jass Basra (vc), Simar Basra, Harmanpreet Singh Gill, Viren Patel, Teghbir Cheema, Pawan Verma, Inderpreet Singh Bassi, Baljeet Jaiya, Gurishwar Singh, Amritpal Josan.
COASTAL CONCRETE OLD BOYS RUGBY: Matthew Cook (c), Cody Andrews, Tom Garrett, Te-Reimana Gray, Refilwe Hlongwane, Mana Taumanu, Jimmy Holden, George Reynolds, Jonah Reynolds, Harvey Reynolds, Daniel Stewart, Amit Vyas, Karan Solanki, Vupil Meta.
