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Sports correspondent & historian with |
During 1974, the Commonwealth Games were a huge hit in Christchurch, the voting age came down from 20 to 18 years of age, New Zealand beat Australia at cricket for the first time, and the current Greerton Cricket Club made its entrance.
Then Greerton Rugby Club president and Tauranga City Mayor in waiting, Noel Pope, suggested that a Greerton cricket club be established to keep up the fitness levels of the Greerton rugby players during the summer.
Fifty years on, the Greerton Cricket Club will host the club's 50th Jubilee celebrations over this weekend's Auckland Anniversary holiday weekend.
The last 50 years have seen success on the field, a couple of the country’s best wearing the Greerton black and gold uniform, and a string of significant marks on the club's honours board.
The first decade saw two New Zealand test cricket stars play club cricket when other commitments allowed, for the Pemberton Park based club.
Geoff Howarth, who ranks as one of the countries best cricket captains, moved to Tauranga in the 1970s and registered to play with the Greerton Cricket Club.
Records show that Howarth played a handful of games in the Greerton strip, between 1981 and 1984, with a highest score of 126 sitting proudly on the club honours board.
New Zealand fast bowler Richard Collinge, who retired with the then test record of 116 wickets, played for Greerton a number of seasons in the 1980s, after his retirement from international and major association cricket.
Collinge joined the Pemberton Park based brigade in the 1984-85 season and played for several years, winning the Rod Cameron batting trophy (400 runs) in 1986.
ROC showed he had lost none of his bowling venom grabbing three six wicket bags, with a best of 6/19.
Greerton won the prestigious Williams Cup in 1984 and 1985 before a drought of Bay of Plenty Cricket premier silverware.
The drought was broken in 2012, with the club's third Williams Cup title, with further Williams Cup success coming in 2018 and 2020.
The Greerton honours board shows that the premier team added the Bay of Plenty Cup during 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
Greerton joined Mount Maunganui and Otumoetai Cadets in clinching the Bay of Plenty Cricket trifecta of trophies, with last season's Baywide T20 championship.
Cricket success is built upon the catchphrase of “Big Numbers” with the Greerton CC having a plethora of 150+ scores and eight wicket bags, over the seasons.
It didn't take long for the first “Big Number” to be posted with an eight wicket haul taken in the club's first year.
Eric Paton, known to most as Ping Pong because of his ability at table tennis, took eight wickets at a cost of only 15 runs in the last game of the season.
Amazingly, this mark remains on the Greerton honours board as the best bowling performance, on the all-time list of achievements.
Leading the Greerton CC “Big Numbers” with the bat is Cameron Neal with the club's two highest scores.
Sitting at the top of the list, is 202 not out off just 126 balls, that Neal hammered against Mount Maunganui in January 2021.
Six seasons earlier, Cam blasted 196 in a Williams Cup encounter.
Greerton Cricket Club will celebrate their 50th Jubilee with a Williams Cup match against long-time rivals Mount Maunganui on Saturday, before a formal celebratory dinner.
The 50th Jubilee weekend will wrap up with nine holes of golf at the Otumoetai Golf course on Sunday.
