Junior Cricket Team: Grit, Glory, and Great Culture at Tournament!

By Richard Harvey | Posted: Thursday December 4, 2025

What a tournament for the Otago Boys’ Junior Cricket team, securing two massive wins against some of the South Island’s strongest cricketing schools.

Taking Down the Favourites: OBHS Victory (4 Wickets) - (Round 1)

What a way to start! Taking on tournament favourites Christchurch Boys High School on their No. 1 ground—a real honour and challenge. The win came down to disciplined, dialled-in bowling and fielding. The tone was started with some good tidy fast bowling from Nathan McCallaghan, Nash Gilmour and Joss Clarke, before the spin of George Dowling's exceptional spell ripped the heart out of the CBHS batting top order (3/13 off 8 overs, 3 maidens).

Chasing a modest but tricky 118, early wickets meant rebuilding was crucial. The middle-order partnerships, anchored by Zavier Hansen's composed 28 (49 balls), alongside crucial knocks from Will Deerness (22) and Nash Gilmour (21), absorbed the pressure perfectly. Matt Storer and Jaxson Hill (who also picked up 2 wickets earlier) then guided the team across the line, with Matt hitting the winning boundary! This was a gritty, high-culture win.

Ten Wickets and Two Fivers! Christ's College Demolition (10 Wickets) - (Round 2)

Day two was pure demolition! After Christ’s College elected to bat, their innings collapsed in spectacular fashion, yielding just 20 runs in 12.5 overs. The bowling was simply unbelievable: Joss Clarke (5/9) and Oliver McCall (5/2) took all ten wickets between them—a truly rare and remarkable feat with two five-wicket bags! The run chase was swift and brutal. Openers Zavier Hansen (9*) and George Dowling (5*) knocked off the 21 runs in just 2.4 overs.

With the 40-over game done in 90 minutes, the teams played a T20. OBHS batted first, posting a commanding 156/6 thanks to Sam Harvey (51* retired) and Fletcher Ewing (49* not out). We wrapped up the day with a 50-run T20 victory, with Matt Storer (3/6 off 4 overs) starring with the ball. Shout out to Jaxon Hill and Zavier Hansen (Wicketkeeper) for three catches each across the day's fieldwork!

The Final Day Grind (Round 3)

Thursday was a tough grind against Shirley Boys High. We lost the toss and were put in on a patchy wicket. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the partnerships going, with only George Dowling (21) and Sam Harvey (11) reaching double figures, and a valuable final partnership with Joss Clarke and Dinuja Gomuwage putting 20 valuable runs andending our innings at 80. Shirley Boys played well and chased the total three wickets down.

A huge congratulations to the entire junior squad on a truly successful tournament! They showed great culture, trusted the plan, and should be immensely proud of their performances, especially the two big wins.

A big thank you to Old Boy Gus Holt who supported the team, his expert guidance and credibility with the team went a long way to their success. 

Well done to all the boys involved. 

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