Riley McCullum, Hunter Doull and Payton Spencer have proven their skills as young up-and-coming cricketers. Photo / Getty
Riley McCullum, Hunter Doull and Payton Spencer have proven their skills as young up-and-coming cricketers. Photo / Getty
Brendon McCullum, Simon Doull and Carlos Spencer have each made their mark in New Zealand sporting history, but now it's their boys who have been labelled as "very talented" after carving it up in junior cricket.
Chip off the old blocks, the intermediate-school boys, Riley McCullum, Hunter Doull and Payton Spencer are not new to the sporting scene and have all shown exceptional promise in cricket.
Riley, who plays for the Waikato Valley Cricket Association, recently ranked second in the Most Valuable Player category in the Northern Districts under 14 cricket tournament.
Proud dad and former Black Caps captain, Brendon, tweeted earlier this week that seeing his son on the leaderboard took the cake.
Seen a few grounds, done a few things in this game but seeing your boy top of the pile of his U14 regional tournament, takes the cake. Onya Son! pic.twitter.com/Oc4QajWPnV
Riley showcased his impressive batting skills during a game for the leading Waikato Valley Primary boys team who beat Northland Primary in the fifth round of the tournament.
In an interview with the Herald, Head of cricket at Waikato Valley Cricket Association, Mark Coles, said Riley had played very well and was respectively one of the top performers for his team.
Brendon, who announced his retirement in 2016 following a 14 year stellar cricket career, was considered one of New Zealand's most successful batsmen, but Coles said batting wasn't the only skill Riley inherited.
"Unlike his dad, he can actually bowl pretty well ... Riley obviously has some talent."
Playing for Hamilton Cricket Association, Hunter and Payton both showcased similarly impressive results from the weekend's game and Hamilton Cricket Association Development Officer, Juli Fraser, said they "dominated in their age groups".
"They obviously come from good blood ... Hunter got about 60-odd out the other day in a game against Bay of Plenty and Payton got about 100 there," she told the Herald.
Year eight student, Hunter, is said to have taken after his dad's bowling skills but also impressed many with his mighty batting perfromance.
"Hunter is top in batting and going well there," said Fraser.
Coles said based on the performance he saw in a recent match, Hunter is "a very useful cricketer".
Simon Doull. Photo / Getty
Simon retired from cricket in 2000 after playing 32 test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for the Black Caps, reaching a career-high ranking of sixth in the 1998 ICC test bowling rankings.
Following in his dad's footsteps, 13-year-old Payton is a first-five rugby player, but in light of recent success Carlos said it's cricket that young Payton may choose to concentrate on.
Carlos Spencer. Photo / Getty
Carlos played 35 tests for the All Blacks, and Fraser said Payton has certainly inherited some key athletic skills from his dad.
"Payton is a fairly talented sportsman ... [he] is a general all-rounder so pretty useful with both batting and bowling," said Fraser.
Each with a promising skill-set of their own, Coles said there's always a little more pressure on the boys when they go out on the pitch.
"There's a lot of expectation on these kids and they go out knowing that everyone knows who they are, both their peers, obviously, and any parent that's watching from the opposition all know who Riley McCullum is, Hunter Doull is, Payton Spencer is," he said.
Despite carrying sport star names, Coles said the boys are all lovely, humble talented young men.
"I don't think they are big headed or ahead of themselves because dad happened to be a good cricketer or rugby player or whatever it may be," he said.
"They are all showing that they're pretty talented young men and they're going to have to work as hard as any other young guy that wants to be a Black Cap as well, but those three boys obviously have some ability and obviously have a pedigree behind them."
