NEWS & EVENTS

For the second year in succession the Willows Cricket Club is sending an Under 17 side to Sri Lanka. This year the side will be under the management of Paul McEwan, Richard Hayward and Andrew Nuttall and will be playing 9 matches during the tour.

The team is;

Michael Collins	Otago Boys’ High School
Andrew Fletcher	Wellington College
Bradley Gordon	Christchurch Boys’ High School
Kenneth McClure	Shirley Boys’ High School
Andrew McCracken	Cashmere High School
Charles McLean	Wellington College
Connor Neynens	Waimea College
Christopher Pope	Marlborough Boys’ High School
Hamish Robertson	Christ’s College
James Tapper	St Andrew’s College
Benjamin Ward	St Andrew’s College
Daniel Wightman	Waimea College
William Williams	Christchurch Boys’ High School

The Governor-General’s Youth XI played a Past New Zealand XI at The Willows in Loburn on March 28th. The Youth XI batted first scoring 261/8 in their 50 overs. The Past NZ XI were restricted to 183/8 by the Governer General's Youth XI who won the game by 78 runs.

The teams were;

Governor-General’s XI
Mitchell Croft
Tim Johnson
Tom Latham
Matthew McEwan
Cole McConchie
Sam Noster
Edward Nuttall
Maulik Patel
Hamish Teale
Theo van Woerkom
Peter Young-Husband

Past New Zealand XI
Geoff Allott
Nathan Astle
Lee Germon
Evan Gray
Chris Harris
Ervin McSweeney
Mark Priest
Stu Roberts
Justin Vaughan
Paul Wiseman
Warren Wisneski

The Bob Pope Scholars for 2010 are Matthew McEwan (formerly St Andrew’s College) and Ciaran McMeeken (formerly Otago Boys’ High School).

This is the 8th pair to be awarded the scholarship and they will be based at Matfen, Northumberland for 6 months from the 2nd April.

Support the Willows Cricket Club fundraising by purchasing a signed copy of Sir Richard’s latest book – Changing Pace

Pre-order your personally signed copy now for $39.99 + P&P, and save $5 off the recommended retail price.

Sir Richard Hadlee is indisputably New Zealand cricket’s greatest-ever fast bowler and one of the finest all-rounders the sport has ever seen. Even now- almost 20 years after his retirement from international cricket – he remains totally committed and passionate about the game which brought him worldwide fame.

Following on from his best-selling biography Rhythm and Swing, his new book Changing Pace, recounts the last few years of Sir Richard Hadlee’s cricket career before describing the tumultuous period in his life that followed his retirement.

Sir Richard talks about the impact of his father Walter and his dad’s sad demise, his early life, the knighthood, the heart attack, life as a selector, his ten most memorable matches, his testimonial year, his relationship with the media, two world cup campaigns, his motivation to succeed, life in the commentary box and much more including his thoughts on the game and where it is heading.

Available from August 1st – great gift for Father’s Day.

One of the great servants of Karori, Wellington and New Zealand cricket, Mike Curtis, is being honoured this week.

Curtis, who is in struggling health, has written The Art of Wicketkeeping, which was launched at the Karori Cricket Club on Tuesday. I have seen literally thousands of cricket books, but never one devoted specifically to the technique of wicketkeeping, which is strange, considering every cricket team must contain a keeper.

Curtis, a stalwart of the Karori club, kept for Wellington from 1956-59 and went within a whisker of making John Reid’s 1958 New Zealand team to England. He played in the North v South trial match that season, during which he took a record eight catches, and scored 22 not out (top score) and 27. Even that virtuoso effort was not enough – he missed out to the emerging John Ward in the role of No 1 keeper Eric Petrie’s back-up on the big tour.

Curtis had a habit of marking the special occasion with a particularly good performance.

In 1956, playing for Wellington against Jack Phillipps’ XI (really the famous 1949 New Zealand team), he scored 45 not out, caught Merv Wallace and stumped Geoff Rabone. His final first-class match was against the MCC in 1959 – Tom Graveney, Colin Cowdrey, Ted Dexter, Fred Trueman, Frank Tyson, Tony Lock and company. Curtis rounded out his first-class career by dismissing Raman Subba Row and Graveney.

Apart from his distinguished first-class career, Curtis has contributed as a cricket administrator and coach.

I know when I coached Wellington junior representative teams, and even schoolboy club teams, he has always been not just willing but eager to attend practice to help the wicketkeepers. Like the front row in rugby, wicketkeeping is a bit of a mystery to those who haven’t done it regularly, and his specialist advice was always gratefully received.

Curtis has been a long-serving Wellington senior and New Zealand age group selector, and a wicketkeeping coach for New Zealand Cricket.

On the local scene, he was one of those primarily responsible for the re-emergence of Karori as a force in Wellington cricket.

His book, which has been published through the good graces of the Willows Cricket Club in Christchurch, is an especially attractive effort, full of colour photos and sensible advice, and I can imagine it being in demand throughout the world because of the scarcity of good coaching for wicketkeepers.

The book can be purchased from
The Willows Cricket Club,
PO Box 22633, Christchurch, for $20.