Central Districts Cricket Association

THE ROSS TAYLOR BAT is a short-format boys' secondary schools contest that CD has run since 2018

Originally contested by regional finalist schools from our six North Island-based District Associations, it now includes Nelson and Marlborough to bring together top schools from all eight of our Districts

Central Stags and BLACKCAPS legend ROSS TAYLOR personally donated the trophy, specifically for this competition. It's the blade with which he scored a BLACKCAPS century against England, at McLean Park in 2013. Unsurprisingly, this has rapidly become a highly sought-after trophy!

CALL FOR 2025/26 ENTRIES

This summer's Ross Taylor Bat Finals will take place from Tuesday 24 to Thursday 26 March 2026 in Palmerston North. The format will be T20, with multiple games played across the three days, depending on final numbers

Entries are open to all schools in the CD region, including schools in Nelson and Marlborough from this season! Please also note that this year we will move to a two-piece white ball for this tournament

Schools - you can enter either the Ross Taylor Bat, or, the Secondary School Boys' First XI Cup but not both competitions in the same season

To enter, please complete the Entry Form in the button below. Your information will allow us to begin the process of creating draws and finalising logistics for each tournament

2024/25 CHAMPION:

ST JOHN'S COLLEGE - HASTINGS

The 2024/25 summer's ROSS TAYLOR BAT competition was held at Manawaroa Park, Palmerston North from 25 to 27 March 2025

St John's College put together a strong campaign, beating Wairarapa College in the 1v2 Final by 44 runs

The six schools who made it through to the Finals tournament were:

• PARAPARAUMU COLLEGE Horowhenua-Kāpiti

• WHANGANUI HIGH SCHOOL Whanganui

• KURANUI COLLEGE Wairarapa

• FEILDING HIGH SCHOOL Manawatū

• ST JOHN'S COLLEGE Hawke's Bay

• WAIRARAPA COLLEGE Wairarapa

2023/24 RESULTS

Finalists for this season were:

FEILDING High School (representing Manawatū)

WHANGANUI High School (Whanganui)

TE PAEPAE o Aotea (Hāwera, Taranaki)

WAIRARAPA College (Wairarapa)

KĀPITI College (Horowhenua-Kāpiti)

ST JOHN'S College (Hawke's Bay)

For the second year in a row, the 2024 Ross Taylor Bat champion was Whanganui High School

2022/23 RESULTS

Finalists for this season were:

FEILDING High School (representing Manawatū)

WHANGANUI High School (Whanganui)

TE PAEPAE o Aotea (Taranaki)

WAIRARAPA College (Wairarapa)

PARAPARAUMU College (Horowhenua-Kāpiti)

HAVELOCK NORTH High School (Hawke's Bay)

The 2023 Ross Taylor Bat champion was Whanganui High School

2021/22 RESULTS

Finalists for this season were:

FEILDING High School (representing Manawatū)

WHANGANUI High School (Whanganui)

HAWERA High School (Taranaki)

KURANUI College (Wairarapa)

PARAPARAUMU College (Horowhenua-Kāpiti)

TARADALE High School (Hawke's Bay)

Three rounds of Finals took place on 9 March at Palmerston North's Manawaroa Park. Heading into the last round, two teams - Feilding and Kuranui - were unbeaten, and were in the box seat to take out the title.

But both schools were beaten in the final round, while Paraparaumu came through with a solid win against Taradale. With four schools finishing with two wins, it came down to Net Run Rate, and Paraparaumu College won The Ross Taylor Bat for 2022! What a great tournament.