King's College makes it two from two

King’s College has been declared the winner of the 2011 Gillette Cup Cricket Championship for the second year running at Lincoln University in Christchurch today.

Constant drizzle meant there was no cricket played on the final day of competition; however King’s College rightfully takes home the title with an unbeaten record over four days of play.

Roy Goodyear, King’s College First XI Coach, attributes the team’s strong performance to fielding.

“Our team plays as a unit – they play for each other, they support each other, there’s no bickering on the field and if something goes wrong slightly they back each other up,” says Goodyear. “Plus we’re privileged to have some outstanding athletes in our side.”

Such athletes include King’s College student Simon Hickey who won Gillette Cup Young Player of the Year award for the second year running – a title that has never before been defended, since it was introduced five years ago, and has officials reeling over this young man’s cricketing abilities.

The 17 year old athlete has shown real skill to average 180 runs from four innings while also taking six wickets.

“It’s an awesome honour - there are a lot of good players in this competition but I was lucky enough to have a successful tournament personally this week,” says Hickey.

“It also helps to be in a winning team; that helps your individual performance and I’m really stoked to win the title again.”

Goodyear says Hickey played impressive cricket for their team throughout the tournament.

“Simon’s performance has been outstanding. He has true leadership, whether its rugby or cricket, he brings it at the right place at the right time.”

Unfortunately for cricket, Hickey has chosen another career path in signing a contract to play rugby with the Auckland Blues Under 18 squad in 2012; however he says he still has a strong passion for cricket.

“Cricket is going to be on the back burner for the next couple of years, but I’ll never forget about it and I’ll be playing in the future,” says Hickey, who intends to play for his brother’s cricket team Manukau Districts during the rugby off-season.

Over 70 promising players from schools nationwide compete in the Gillette Cup Finals. To be awarded the Gillette Cup Young Cricketer of the Year is a huge achievement.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) awards the trophy each year to the strongest player of the finals tournament. The individual receives $1,000 towards their professional development and their school receives an allocation of cricket equipment to the same value.

Mark Lane, NZC National Development Manager, says this year it was clear from the first day that Hickey had a strong chance to take the title again.

“Simon is a talented player who regularly performs well and scores high runs. He’s the kind of athlete who has natural talent and will obviously succeed at whichever sport he chooses,” says Lane.

Kane Williamson, BLACKCAP, won the inaugural award in 2007, followed by Central District’s Adam Milne (2008) then Matthew Rowe (2009) from Christchurch Boys’ High School.