OBR’s Greeks enjoying his time bowling

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Nick Greeks is loving his cricket at the moment and rightly so.

The Coastal Concrete Old Boys Rugby all-rounder, who — hampered by an injury to his left ankle — got through to Christmas on courage before stepping down as captain, took 10 wickets in his team’s outright victory over Gisborne Boys’ High School in Round 2 of the DJ Barry Cup Premier Grade championship.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Greeks took 5-23 from 15 overs, four of them maidens, and 5-45 from 15 overs, six of them maidens. It was his best match return in 18 years of club cricket, and the first time that a bowler has taken 10 wickets in the revamped two-day competition.

“I've enjoyed bowling in the past couple of weekends; there's been some sharp turn,” Greeks said.

Matthew Cook, who succeeded Greeks as OBR captain before Round 3 of the T15 Walker Shield on January 11, said: “Nick was our best bowler in a great match. Having made 242, we bowled out Boys’ High for 145, which gave us a lead of 97. We went back in to bat, declared at 94-6, setting them a target of 192 in 42 overs. We bowled them out for 166 but they put up a good fight.”

OBR took first-innings points on Day 1 but GBHS were just 26 runs away from outright victory with half an hour to play on Saturday. The David McDonald-coached first 11 lost their season opener to OBR in the 40-over Doleman Cup. Without Zyden Worsnop and Ruan Ludwig, the side that went down by 10 wickets on the same ground — Harry Barker Reserve No.1 — on October 28 gave their older opponents far greater cause for concern at the weekend.

Boys’ High first-drop Alex Shanks was out, caught by Hayden Keast at mid-off for 52, off the sixth ball of Day 2. His was a big wicket for Greeks and OBR. The fall of No.6 Nathaniel Fearnley for 27, stumped by wicketkeeper Kieran Venema off Greeks, was as big a blow because he and Shanks had spent valuable time in the middle.

OBR’s second dig began with a rocket-attack courtesy of GBHS left-arm spearhead Johnathan Gray (3-16 from six overs) and his elder brother David (2-10 from four), both of whom bowled a maiden apiece.

OBR were 12-5 after six overs, on the brink of annihilation. Opener Venema (22) and not-out batsmen Keast (21) and Daniel Stewart (37), with a seventh-wicket stand of 51, lent respectability to the score.

In the lead-up to Day 2, Cook — having won the toss and elected to bat first — said OBR were keen to have offspinner Stewart come into the side. In tandem with Greeks — who with Jimmy Holden had opened the bowling — Stewart took 4-62 from 15.5 overs, two of them maidens. The spinners sent down the last 19 overs in an exciting finish, OBR maintaining an excellent over rate.

It was absorbing cricket.

Boys’ High captain and No.2 batsman Bekko Page did exactly what needed doing from their perspective in the second innings: he hit two consecutive boundaries straight off Greeks, but skied the fifth ball he faced from him to Stewart at short cover.

Greeks then trapped Shanks, leg before wicket, first nut. Greeks swung the armball into the back pad of Boys’ High’s best-performed batsman this season.

Second-drop Malsha Mahabalage, 29 in 71 balls, continued his development as a patient top-order player, left-hander Markus Gray — with an unbeaten 21 — showed similar qualities at No.9 but still one more leftie, Year 13 Jarrod Ormiston, had the winning of the match within his grasp. Batting at No.5, the powerful Ormiston made his highest score for any Boys’ High or Poverty Bay age-group team, 79 from 69 balls, with 12 boundaries.

His was a crucial knock on a day when Boys’ High lost two wickets with the score at 10 and two wickets with the score at 113. Ormiston is imperturbable at the wicket. He barely notices being hit by the ball and, a strong on-side player, he hits the ball hard.

Boys’ High left-arm orthodox spinner Riker Rolls — who took 3-55 from 13.3 overs, one of them a maiden, and 1-20 from five — was, as he had been in the first innings, the last man to fall. He was out, leg before wicket, to Stewart for three.

For both High School Old Boys and Horouta, Day 2 of Round 2 was a test of depth as much as resolve.

And by the end of it, DJ Barry Cup holders Bollywood HSOB — who took first innings points against Breakers Horouta Te Waka last Saturday — went to the top of the two-day competition table with their first outright victory of this campaign.

Before play began on Day 2, Horouta declared their innings closed at 71-6 off 21.2 overs. They then fought to contain HSOB, who had posted 181-8 batting first.

Having chosen to bowl on Day 1, Horouta captain David Situ declared 110 runs behind and his attack backed up with line and length.

Shubham Raihan took the new ball and took 3-35 from eight overs, two of them maidens. Fellow medium-pacer Billy Morse, who took 5-37 on Day 1, was kept wicketless. Morse bowled extremely well on Day 1 and sent down three maidens in another excellent 12-over stint on Saturday.

Gurishwar Singh and Harmanpreet Singh both took a wicket each in five overs, for 30 and 51 runs respectively.

HSOB opener Ajay Kumar (21), tall left-hander Carl Shaw (58 not out at second drop), No.5 Jak Rowe (24) and No.6 Steve Lamb (42) made contributions without going on to make a Dave Castle-like score.

Castle, who made an unbeaten 92 on Day 1, was absent on Day 2, but Lamb hit five sixes and two fours in 15 balls from No.6.

Castle can change gears — as can Lamb — but the latter's natural batting state is adventurous. Both players are having a bumper season, and HSOB posted 187-5 in 36 overs, their best partnership being one of 70 for the fourth wicket, between Rowe and Lamb.

Scott Tallott contributed 35 and 12.

In Horouta’s second innings, opener Stanley Blake and No.4 Gautam Sareen both top-scored for The Waka with 23. The tall Blake faced 37 balls and Sareen 30, scoring rates that indicate both were in fair form. The next-best effort was that of No.5 Shubham Raihan, with nine, as Horouta were bowled out for 94 in 28.5 overs.

Nick Armour took 5-19 — his first five-wicket bag — in eight overs, two of them maidens. Three of those dismissals were lbw decisions given by Northern Districts development panel umpire Jason Trowill. An effective and deceptive slow-medium bowler, Armour was well-supported by Lamb (3-14 from 5.5 overs) and spearhead Jak Rowe (2-38 from nine).

Castle said: “I thought we focused on our skills really well and kept to a clear and simple plan, but the biggest attribute we continue to show is character. Guys step up to win games. It’'s a great team culture at HSOB that fosters pride in our Saturday matches, and that is the reason that guys are regularly contributing match-winning performances.”

Day 2, Round 2, DJ Barry Cup two-day Premier Grade championship, Round 2, Day 2 –

COASTAL CONCRETE OLD BOYS RUGBY 242 all out and 94-6 declared beat GISBORNE BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL 145 and 146 outright and took first-innings points.

BOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS 181-8 and 187-5 declared beat BREAKERS HOROUTA TE WAKA 71-6 declared and 94 all out outright and took first-innings points.