Seniors going home

Gisborne Boys’ High School left-handed batsman Jarrod Ormiston looks to hook this ball against High School Old Boys. Picture by Liam Clayton

The return of all senior club cricket to the Harry Barker Reserve tomorrow is great news.

In Round 4 of the 40-over Premier Grade Doleman Cup matches to  start at 12 midday, Bollywood High School Old Boys will clash with Breakers Horouta Te Waka on Harry Barker Reserve No.3 and Gisborne Boys’ High School have a date with Coastal Concrete Old Boys Rugby on No.1.

In Round 4 of the 30-over Senior B Grade Hope Cup matches to start at 2pm, Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps play Breakers Horouta Te Waka on the practice wicket, Rawhiti Legal OBR play Chicking High School Old Boys Presidents on No.2 and Gisborne Boys’ High School (2)play Campion College on No.4.

Poverty Bay chief of umpires Jason Trowill will control the Premier Grade fixture HSOB versus Horouta and Stu Patrick will stand in GBHS versus OBR.

With the first round of Premier Grade T15 Walker Shield cricket at the Reserve done and dusted overnight, Horouta are now up to take their first win in the 40-over competition, from those at the top of the mountain.

The Dave Castle-led HSOB, holders of all three Premier Grade trophies, beat Te Waka by 156 runs on the same track three weeks ago. Also on that day, OBR beat Gisborne Boys’ High by 10 wickets on No.1.

With Harmanpreet Singh’s 105 against OBR last Saturday following Te Waka captain David Situ’s 76 not out against GBHS in Round 2, at least two of their batsmen have made 50-plus a month into the summer. To win 40-over games, a team’s top-order and middle-order combined must produce two or three significant partnerships.

The Te-Reimana Gray-Sean Henry opening stand of 87 against Boys’ High in the season opener constitutes their biggest and best partnership to date.No one settled against HSOB and the 52 that Gray and Dane Thompson put up for the fourth wicket was followed by a stand of 87 between Gray and Richie Needham.

Where 50-run partnerships give way to 100-run stands, trophies become more attainable.

At times last season, OBR captain Nick Greeks seemed to be fighting a lone cause with the bat. And at times Horouta’s Situ has seemed to be doing the same.

Rarely is that the case for HSOB, although to date only Castle (with 91, on October 28) has made a big score.

It would be fair to say that opposing teams being bowled out for low scores has cost some top-order batsmen valuable time in the middle.

Alex Shanks’s 52 two weeks ago has been Gisborne Boys’ High School’s best individual innings. He and they need many more runs and to bat in partnerships that keep the score-board moving along.

T15 pyrotechnics have their place in the Walker Shield although, even in that preserve of big shots, true batsmanship has value.