Central Districts Cricket Association

This is a short-format boys' secondary schools contest that CD introduced in 2018

Central Stags and BLACKCAPS legend ROSS TAYLOR personally donated the trophy 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!

Boys' schools can choose whether to enter The Ross Taylor Bat, or, the
CD Boys' First XI Cup but First XIs can not compete in both competitions in the same summer

• Entries each season close in December

2025/26 CHAMPION

Wairarapa College

This season's Ross Taylor Bat T20 Finals took place from Tuesday 24 to Thursday 26 March 2026 at Palmerston North's Ongley Park

The six schools who made it through to the T20 Finals tournament were:

• PARAPARAUMU COLLEGE Horowhenua-Kāpiti

• WHANGANUI HIGH SCHOOL Whanganui

• WAIRARAPA COLLEGE Wairarapa

• FAHS FEILDING HIGH SCHOOL Manawatū

• ST JOHN'S COLLEGE Hawke's Bay

• STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL Taranaki

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.