By Gary Caffell
Greytown Cricket Club president Jason Osborne is a happy man.
Not only was he delighted at the way his club’s 150th jubilee celebrations went over Waitangi weekend but he and another long-time member, Josh Doherty, had the honour of life membership being bestowed upon them at the well-attended jubilee dinner on Sunday evening.
Both Osborne and Doherty have filled various roles on the committee of the Greytown club over the past couple of decades with Osborne now in his 15th year as president.
“Life membership is something really special and Josh and I are really thrilled to get that sort of recognition,” Osborne said after the presentation was made by club stalwart John Gray, a life member himself.
Guest speakers at the dinner were former Black Cap great Mark Greatbatch and Central Districts Cricket Association president Mike Sewell with Greatbatch having earlier played in the highlight of Sunday afternoon’s activities, a Twenty20 fixture between a New Zealand invitation XI and a President’s XI.
That game, played in very warm temperatures, drew a big crowd with the invitation XI batting first and posting a moderate score of 93.
While they fielded a number of players who have made a name for themselves on the provincial scene they struggled to get any real momentum into their innings against an accurate attack and some outstanding fielding.
Greatbatch showed his class by taking two catches in the slips and Alistair Boyne also took a couple of “crackers” in the gully.
Doherty and Greatbatch opened the innings for the President’s XI and posted some 25 runs in the first three but once they were out the President’s XI also struggled to keep the run rate going at the required rate
for victory.
In fact, they still needed 11 runs off the last over to secure the victory but a couple of boundaries by Casey Rangi were just what the doctor ordered, and they got home with two balls to spare.
Reflecting on the three days of celebrations, Jason Osborne said everything went according to plan.
“It was amazing . . . it couldn’t have gone any better.
“You always worry about the weather for events like this but it was terrific, everybody had a great time.”
