When St Andrew’s defeated Christ’s College by 186 runs in the Gillette Cup Canterbury regional qualifying final at Mainpower Oval in Rangiora they created history.
St Andrew’s have never qualified for the national tournament, which has been the pinnacle of secondary school cricket since it was established in 1990.
“It’s taken a long time. I’ve been to a lot of finals before, but to finally crack it is awesome,” said Johnston.
The final against Christ’s was the sixth Johnston has been involved in while coaching the team. Many have gone right down to the wire and one of the most heart-breaking losses even resulted in a draw.
That loss came in 2008 when the St Andrew’s team, containing Black Cap Henry Nicholls, Wellington all-rounder Logan van Beek and Auckland pace bowler Matt McEwan, lost in a bowl off to St Bede’s College which featured Matt Henry.
The Gillette Cup tournament will take place at Lincoln University and Hagley Oval from December 1-6. St Andrew’s will play the winners of the regional qualifying tournaments in Otago, Central Districts, Wellington, Auckland and Northern Districts.
“Now we’ve got there our aim is to perform really well and hopefully we can win it because we’ve got a very well balanced side,” said Johnston.
