The 18-year-old all-rounder will be competing in his third Secondary Schoolboys’ First XI Cup — formerly the Gillette Cup — when OBHS flies the flag for the province in Lincoln next week.
The school has a proud record at the tournament. It is making its 13th appearance in the finals and won the title twice in the early 1990s.
Christchurch Boys’ High School has been dominant in recent years, winning the title three times in a row from 2012 to 2014. OBHS has that school first up, so that will be a good measure of where the team is at.
OBHS plays the defending champion Hutt International Boys’ School on Thursday, so the competition does not get any easy as the week goes on. But Bayly is optimistic about his team’s prospects.
He has learned a lot from his previous appearances and hopes that knowledge will serve the team well.
"In Dunedin you have to go about scoring runs in a different way," the talented all-rounder said.
"You can manipulate the field up in Lincoln, whereas here runs are hard to come by because the team can put a ring field in place and you have to hit over the top or with power to get value for your shots.
"You can place it with soft hands and rotate the strike a bit easier, so overall the scores are a lot higher up there."
The pitches play differently as well. They tend to suit slow bowlers more, so a good spinner becomes invaluable.
"Hopefully, we’ll get something with a bit of pace in it," Bayly said.
Bayly has been honing his craft by playing senior grade cricket for Carisbrook-Dunedin. Under the watchful eye of Otago contracted players Sean Eathorne, Rhys Phillips and Ryan Duffy, Bayly’s game knowledge has improved and he is embracing the daunting challenging of captaining the OBHS side as well as potentially opening the bowling and batting in the top five.
While he shapes as one of the players to watch, OBHS has a "lot of young guns".
Wicketkeeper-batsman Max Chu has been suggested as a potential future first-class gloveman, while left-armer Ben Lockrose is among the best spinners in his age group in the country. All-rounder Hunter Kindley is another player rated highly. He is part of the Volts extended training squad.
OBHS has 10 players returning from last year’s team and seven of the team are playing senior cricket, so there is plenty of experience in the side.
That said, the other schools all have a generous sprinkling of talent as well. The tournament always offers a view into the future.
In 2007, Kane Williamson and Tim Southee were named joint tournament MVP. They turned out to be rather useful cricketers. Brendon McCullum was the star seven years earlier, while Adam Milne got the award in 2008 and Corey Anderson shone in 2006. Former OBHS players Grant Billcliff and Chris Finch were named MVP in 1993 and 1992 respectively, while Rob Lawson was the standout player of the inaugural tournament in 1990.
● St Hilda’s Collegiate has made a terrific start at the New Zealand Secondary Schoolgirls finals in Lincoln. It beat Palmerston North Girls’ High School by 34 runs in the morning and thrashed Tauranga Girls’ College in the afternoon by 79 runs. Bella James starred with 83 from 68 balls, Kate Heffernan clouted 64 from 37 and her twin sister, Georgia, took one for six from four overs.
Boys’ first XI Cup
Lincoln, begins Monday
Otago Boys High School: Taine Bayly (captain), Declan Su’a, Cameron McAuslan, Jarryd Taig, Gus Wood, Jackson Miller, Josiah Turner, Max Chu, Hunter Kindley, Jack Pryde, Ben Lockrose, Tim Horton.
OBHS draw
December 5: v Christchurch Boys’ High School
December 6: v Hamilton Boys’ High School
December 7: v Nelson College
December 8: v Hutt International Boys’ School
December 9: v Saint Kentigern College
