Cricket

Following a successful 2019/2020 campaign our 1st XI made their return to the premier grade at the end of 2020 in the Term 4 T20 competition. Taking on the other top seven schools in Auckland our boys made their mark early on in the competition with wins against Rosmini and St Peter’s in their second and third games. At the end of the competition the team finished sixth, a very respectable finish for their first time in the top grade in five years.

With several Year 13s leaving at the end of 2020, the 1st XI Boys had a lot of fresh new faces for the new 2021 season. Knowing a lot of work was needed, if such a young team was going to compete with the best schools in Auckland in the 50 over format, the boys got stuck into their preseason almost immediately following the end of the 2020 Term 4 half of the season. Unfortunately, despite all of their hard work and commitment through the season, the team went winless in the 50 over format through Term 1. There were however, a couple of highlights in the midweek T20 competition with a comfortable win against Howick College and a very exciting game against Westlake—which ultimately resulted in a loss by two runs but was proof that the team does have what it takes to compete in the top grade. We were very proud of the consistent work ethic, professionalism and sportsmanship shown by the team throughout the term of cricket.

We were very excited to have our 2nd XI Boys team back for the 2021 season. This year they were competing in the Senior Morning A Grade. The team had a fantastic Term 1 with some wins, some losses, but most importantly it was great to see a group of boys that didn’t get to play last year out there having a great time every Saturday morning and enjoying their cricket.

Bolstered by a big intake of Year 9s we had two very full Colts (junior) teams this year. Both teams had very similar seasons with some tough results to start the year but both teams also showed clear improvements week to week. By the end of Term 1 the teams were competitive in every game, with the Colts 1 Boys finishing the season with a big win over King’s Colts 2—a great finish to the term. All credit goes to all of the boys in both teams and their coaches for their hard work through the season resulting in such a clear improvement in both teams.

Our girls programme continues to go from strength to strength every year. In 2021 we had 10 very committed girls keen to play cricket each week on a Wednesday afternoon. Despite a very disrupted season involving a number of cancelled games due to Covid-19 and bad weather, the girls continued to enjoy both trainings and games and showed some incredible team spirit every week out on the field. Their commitment to improvement shone clearly this year as they came away with two wins and a couple of other very close losses. We are looking forward to the next few years of girls cricket at Rangitoto, as if the last few years is any indication, there is a bright future for the team and programme as a whole.