Mitchell Murray on that 2014 season...

In 2014 King’s College appeared to be on course to canter into the Gillette Cup finals.

King’s won the Auckland Secondary Schools’ First XI competition and faced promoted St. Peter’s College in the qualifying final for nationals.

St. Peter’s was bundled out for a modest 142- a challenge that surprisingly presented King’s with grave difficulty. Mitchell Murray explains what happened.

“After a quick start we collapsed. With one wicket left we needed 22 runs to win. My mate Charles Bevan was at the crease and he smashed six fours and we won. He reminds me about it every day.”

It was a good thing for Murray that Bevan was able to pull off a Houdini act. At the Gillette Cup Finals in December Murray was the leading run-maker, amassing 310 runs in four innings at the Christchurch staged tournament.

On Wednesday all matches were reduced to 37 overs due to rain. King’s faced Wellington Champions, Hutt International Boys’ School (HIBS). HIBS rapidly made up for lost time by posting an imposing score of 241/6. Head Boy in 2015, Troy Johnson belted 125 off 92 balls. His innings featured 14 fours and five sixes.

In reply, King’s made a sluggish start. Early wickets tumbled and Murray scratched around initially.

“The first 20 runs were really dodgy. I wasn’t timing the ball, I edged a couple and didn’t feel good, and then suddenly things clicked.”

Murray obliterated the HIBS attack! He smashed 171 off 112 balls, pummelling 16 fours and seven sixes to guide King’s to victory and shatter the previous record for the highest score in the Gillette Cup finals – 136 by King’s College’s Simon Hickey in 2011.

Murray concedes he had no idea he was approaching the record books at the time.

“I didn’t have a clue. I was just in the moment. At the end of the game my teammates embraced me and told me that I had made a record score. I was pretty satisfied.”

Though King’s got beaten by eventual winners Christchurch Boys’ High School the next day, Murray ended the tournament in grand style. Against Waikato Champions St. Paul’s Collegiate he made 134 not out to win the Player of the Tournament award. Past winners include Black Caps, Brendon McCullum (2000), Tim Southee (2006), and Kane Williamson (2007).       

Only three players, Williamson (2007), Hickey and Michael Collins (Otago Boys’ High School, 2011) have made two centuries in the same tournament. Murray says his success was extremely satisfying.

“I had struggled a bit before the Gillette Cup. My breakthrough innings was when I made 101 against Sacred Heart in 2013. I got a lot of confidence from that, but was still a bit up and down. The Gillette Cup was a great way to end my career at King’s.”

Interestingly Hickey and Collins have both played rugby for New Zealand at Under-20 level.

Murray’s chosen winter sport is hockey. Murray has been in the Auckland representative system since the age of 10, playing midfield or defence.

In 2014 Murray was a member of the King’s First XI that captured the Auckland Secondary Schools’ title. Murray says the Auckland final on home turf against Westlake Boys’ High School was one of his finest experiences at King’s.

“We got a hiding in a traditional the week before. We scored right towards the end to make it 5-1. In the final we scored after 17 seconds and dominated from the outset, winning 4-1. There was a big home crowd and they went nuts.”

Murray is attempting to combine both sports at present. He has taken the first trimester off university as he juggles his options, but concedes cricket is the more likely pursuit in the future.”

“I would love to carry on with both, but I follow the cricket more closely and there seems to be more options with cricket in the future. Already both codes are starting to clash.”

In January Murray was a member of the Auckland Under-19 cricket team that won the National championship in Christchurch. He says his favourite cricketers are Alistair Cook, David Warner and AB de Villiers.

Murray is a valued wicket. He shares an amusing story about the worst sledge he has received.

“In Year 10 I was playing for the Avondale First XI and the short cover fieldsman, who was a Year 13 threatened, to stab me in the carpark. I was going well and he got suspended.”

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