Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Sideline Sid takes his hat off to a young bunch of Tauranga Boys' College cricket players, who took out the Western Bay of Plenty B-Grade cricket championship on Saturday.

During the winter cricket break, a plan was hatched to enter the Tauranga Boys' third eleven in the local men's B-Grade competition.

The team of Year 10 and 11 youngsters were facing the big unknown of playing in a men's competition for the first time.

While Western Bay B Grade cricket lacks the intensity of the premier and reserve grade competitions, teams always play to win, with many of the participants having previously played at a higher level.

The Tauranga Boys' thirds kicked off their B-Grade campaign with a win and finished a highly creditable third place in the WBOPCA First Round title competition.

While they were right in contention in the championship rounds, the Tauranga Boys' third side upped the ante in the championship playoffs.

They knocked qualifying competition leaders Wanderers out of the semi-finals when they bowled the front-runners out for 99, before cruising home with seven wickets to spare.

In the weekends title decider, the Tauranga Boys' thirds were facing defending Western Bay B-Grade defending champions in the Singh XI.

For the second week in a row, they grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck, bowling their opponents out for 84 and then getting home with five wickets in hand.

The championship victory was built on the foundations of the Tauranga Boys' College cricket pathway and the mentoring role of former top-line premier club cricket player Shaun Fisher.

Tauranga Boys' College cricket pathway has produced a number of Black Caps and a myriad of professional and provincial players in the past.

Current Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson is just one example of the success of the school sport pathway.

The current Bay of Plenty representative team is entitled to be called the best NZ Cricket minor association in the country, with the Hawke Cup and the Northern Districts Fergus Hickey Rosebowl to spend the winter in the Bay of Plenty Cricket trophy cabinet.

During the current season, 20 players were selected in the Bay of Plenty representative side with over half having graduated from the TBC pathway. 

The Baywide Premier Williams Cup Final at the Bay Oval turned into an absolute thriller, with the spin bowlers from the two teams playing a big part in the match outcome.

Otumoetai Cadets and Mount Maunganui have dominated the two Baywide competitions this season and met for the sixth time in the cricket year. 

Cadets batted first and looked to become bogged down when the Mount introduced their spin trio of skipper Dale Swan, Nick Smith and Peter Drysdale.

However, Jono Boult and Donovan Deeble took control of the last 10 overs to take Cadets through to 210/4.

A blazing 77 runs from Mount Maunganui opener Brenton Thompson got the Mount away to a flyer and at 142/3 they appeared in charge.

However, the Cadets slow bowlers restricted the momentum, with Mount Maunganui coming up 12 runs short of victory.