PNBHS -A Cricketing School

P.N.B.H.S. - A CRICKETING SCHOOL
The Palmerston North Boys' High School was established in 1902.  A fire destroyed the new school in 1910 and the subsequent manhunt for the arsonist saw local panic, policemen shot, the famous Powelka trial and his subsequent mysterious escape and disappearance.  Such a colourful first decade has never been quite repeated.  However, the shifting of the cricket pavilion, prior to the 75th Jubilee, was followed soon after by its demise by fire through the activities of arsonists in both Feilding (a nearby town) and in Palmerston North.
The word "cricket" appears for the very first time in any school record in a minute of the Board of Governors' monthly meeting in October, 1903, where it was "resolved that five pound be granted for the preparation of a cricket pitch".  It was not until 1908 that the school magazine, the Palmerstonian, gives more detail of cricket in the school.  Here it was pointed out that practice areas were needed, the distance to the Sports Ground was too great and the need of the incentive of an annual match was much felt.  The Junior Saturday Championship was won in 1908-09 and the Saturday Senior Championship in 1924-25.  In those first thirty odd years the school played major schools in New Zealand for the Heathcote-Williams Shield.  The first school match was against Napier Boys' High School in 1909 for the Challenge Shield.  After this game a "banquet" (a dated term) was held in the local tearooms and the coach of the Napier team, once a protege of W G Grace and an all England wicketkeeper, sang "Kelly from the Isle of Man".  Different days indeed.
Later years saw the decade of coaching by W P Anderson, years when boys actually played for Manawatu in the famous Hawke Cup games and names such as Norm Gallichan, Red Norris and the feared Tommy Downes were well known identities.
Old Boys who have played for New Zealand include Chester Holland, Norm Gallichan, Geoff Rabone, Noel Harford, Don Beard, Bryan Yuile, Vic Pollard, David O'Sullivan, Derek Stirling and wicketkeeper Ian Smith, Matthew Sinclair. Jacob Oram, Jamie How and Ross Taylor are currently playing for New Zealand.
Palmerston North Boys' High School is one of the largest cricket clubs in New Zealand with over 450 students playing cricket at various levels.  Its four top elevens compete in the Manawatu Cricket Association's adult competitions with the 1st XI being in the Premier One Grade, the 2nd XI in Premier Two, the 3rd XI and the 4th XI in Premier Three.  Indeed, it is the most important contributory school club to the Manawatu Cricket Association's Premier One Grade and Senior representative teams, in that over half of all the cricketers in each of these are either current students at, or old boys of, Palmerston North Boys' High School.  The School has won the Ongley Cup for Club supremacy in 1997, 1998 and 2000.  In 1998 the 1st XI also won the Premier One Competition, a feat last achieved in 1924.
Because of the substantial student interest and involvement in cricket at Palmerston North Boys' High School, the school has embarked on a programme of offering its promising players the opportunity of extending their cricketing abilities and skills by going on a pre-season overseas tour every three years.  Each tour has been set up to give young cricketers the chance to play up to ten games in the three weeks of the September/October holidays.  The benefits of such international exchanges for each student have been immense, not only in terms of their cricket, but also their personal development.
The first tour was made in 1984 to Queensland, and subsequent tours have been to Queensland and Singapore (1987); Queensland and Fiji (1990); Queensland, Northern Territory and Singapore (1993); Queensland, New South Wales and Singapore (1996) , Singapore and South Africa (1998)  followed by a repeat tour to South Africa in 2001 and 2004.  The next tour will again be to Singapore and South Africa.  The previous tours have had an enormous impact on cricket in the school and on our competitiveness, not only against local association sides, but also our traditional annual rivals of Napier Boys' High School, Wanganui Collegiate, Rathkeale College, Wellington College, Auckland Grammar School and in the Gillette Cup and Super 8 Competitions.
In 1990 the 1st XI were the winners of the inaugural New Zealand Gillette Cup National Champion Secondary School Cricket Competition.  The 1st XI has continued to achieve in this very prestigious knockout competition by placing second in 1993; third in 1994; second in 1995; they were the winners in 1998 and joint winners in 2004 following the very successful tour of Singapore and South Africa and placed second in 1999 and 2000.
In the home city of Palmerston North, the school dominates the secondary schools with its twenty four cricket teams.  This has meant the city's facilities can not cope on a Saturday and the school runs its own subsidiary competitions.  To match this need, it has constructed three permanent artificial wickets and installed a complex of eight artificial practice lanes, the result of staff fund raising and local sponsorship.
For some, P.N.B.H.S. is regarded as an old fashioned school.  If it be old fashioned to offer Saturday and weekday sport in a host of codes, with full teaching staff involvement, so be it.