Gillette Cup cricket competition to kick off at new home

The 22nd national finals tournament of the prestigious Gillette Cup national secondary school boys’ cricket championship will be held at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre at Lincoln University from December 2-6.

After 21 years the 2011 Gillette Cup finals will embrace a new location, moving from Palmerston North to Canterbury. The shift will see the tournament take place at the High Performance Centre, current home of New Zealand Cricket, enabling key officials, selectors and high performance staff to see up and coming cricket stars in action.

The Gillette Cup is synonymous with secondary school cricket with over 200 schools entering the 2011 competition. The preliminary rounds in the six major cricket associations have each produced their winners who advance to this year’s finals in Lincoln.

The 2011 finalists include three teams returning from last year: Hutt International Boys’ School, Palmerston North Boys’ High School and last year’s champions King’s College; along with Tauranga Boys’ High School, Otago Boys’ High School, and, first time finalist, Christ’s College.

An integral part of the player development pathway for young New Zealand cricketers, the Gillette Cup has launched over 60 players into first class cricket with 14 graduating into the ranks of the BLACKCAPS.

The location of this year’s national finals tournament will not be the only first – the competition will unfold over five days rather than four, with the six finalists initially playing each other in a round-robin format before moving to the final stages of the tournament.

The draw for the tournament is as follows:

DAY ONE - FRIDAY 2 DECEMBER, 2011
King’s College v Hutt International BS
Tauranga BHS v Christ’s College
Otago BHS v Palmerston North BHS

DAY TWO – SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER, 2011
Christ’s College v King’s College
Otago BHS v Hutt International BS
Tauranga BHS v Palmerston North BHS

DAY THREE – SUNDAY 4 DECEMBER, 2011
Tauranga BHS v King’s College
Palmerston North BHS v Hutt International BS
Christ’s College v Otago BHS

DAY FOUR – MONDAY 5 DECEMBER, 2011
Otago BHS v King’s College
Christ’s College v Palmerston North BHS
Hutt International BS v Tauranga BHS

DAY FIVE – TUESDAY 6 DECEMBER, 2011
Otago BHS v Tauranga BHS
King’s College v Palmerston North BHS
Hutt International BS v Christ’s College