MILESTONE: Ōtorohanga Raptors veteran Bryan King plays his 200th game for the club this weekend. PHOTO SUPPLIED
ŌTOROHANGA Raptors veteran Bryan King is set to reach a huge milestone this weekend. The diminutive all-rounder reaches his 200th game as the Raptors kick off their combined Hamilton/Waikato Valley Senior A One Day competition against Hinuera at the Otorohanga Domain. It’s a perfect fit that King gets to bring up the double century at the team’s home ground, where he has spent many seasons whacking the ball to the rope and taking wickets. “It’s pretty exciting we get to play at home. We haven’t played there in two seasons. So hopefully I can help contribute and we can get a win.” King said it’s a great club and he’s happy to still be playing. “I got left stranded on 199 games last season. We just missed the final and that would have been 200, so to bring it up at home is pretty special.” He said while the body was still willing, he’d be there most weekends donning the whites or colours depending on the competition they are competing in. “We have a pretty good core of 14-15 players and hopefully we can go one better than we did last year and bring some silverware back to the club. “They’re all great blokes and we have two young English boys currently flying over to join us for this weekend, so it’ll be great to get them involved.” As for running from boundary to boundary, there’s no chance, King will be parked up nicely in the slip cordon. Saturday’s game will be a special milestone for King in another way as he has also played more than 200 games for the Ōtorohanga Football Club. “To achieve it in both sports is a real highlight. Hopefully, I can have a good season with bat and ball.” Last year the side finished second in the same competition and will be aiming to better that this season. They welcome two overseas imports in brothers Charlie and Jake Presswell, who will add plenty to the side. Several regulars return from last year, while Tom Rogers makes a timely return from injury. King, Rogers and Parsons will be expected to score the bulk of the runs, however, keep an eye on Bradley Anderson and Harsh Patel, while Jacob Hunt, Aasbir Benipal and Jake Marcroft will look to take the majority of the wickets. The Raptors are thankful to their sponsors for all the help they receive and are excited to get their campaign underway this Saturday.
