Dads vs Lads 2025
Dads vs Lads 2025
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Sun, Sweat, Sledging & Sausages at GSR 2
Sun, Sweat, Sledging & Sausages at GSR 2
Howdy Cricket Fans!
On Saturday 27th December, Papamoa Cricket Club proudly hosted our 3rd annual Dads vs Lads showdown — a highly anticipated contest where experience, guile and bad knees took on youth, enthusiasm and an alarming lack of fear.
Gordon Spratt Reserve 2 turned on a classic Kiwi summer’s day (yeah right), where club colours were mostly worn with a few dads quietly borrowing gear that “definitely used to fit”.
The Format (or “Controlled Chaos”)
The game was played in batting partnerships, meaning every dad had to face bowling from: their own lad, and someone else’s lad who had absolutely no issue bouncing them for fun.
Likewise, when the lads batted, they faced their dads — some bowling off two steps, some off three, and at least one off what could generously be described as “muscle memory”.
Played under Div 8 rules (in the interests of fun, safety, and finishing before dark clouds took over the afternoon), each partnership had 5 overs. All shots allowed (yes, including the "just bloody hit it mate - slog")
Dads: normal runs, but lose 5 runs per wicket
Lads: double runs for everything, lose 2 runs per wicket
Bowling speeds ranged from “gentle medium” to “he’s still got it, actually”
The Teams:
The Teams:
DADS:
DADS:
Brendan McCarthy
Mark Divehall
Marc James
Craig Mason
David Babbage
Scott Fredrickson
Laurent de Bourgues
Jarrod Douglas (Fill in Dad)
Daniel Clark (Visiting International Pro Dad)
Sam Wilson (Fill in Dad)
LADS:
LADS:
Lincoln McCarthy
Archie Divehall
Wyatt James
Harry Mason
Ryan Babbage
Hamish Fredrickson
Bastian de Bourgues
Oscar Mason
Lewis Clark (Visiting International Pro Lad)
Brody Divehall
The Cricket (or “Selective Memory Highlights”)
The Dads innings was a mixed bag of classy cover drives, suspicious running between wickets, and wickets falling at the exact moment someone mentioned a BBQ sausage break.
There were highlights:
Mark Divehall rolling back the years with some proper shots — before the -5 run tax kicked in.
Sam Wilson clearly forgetting this was meant to be social cricket and launching his way to a tidy 50.
Laurent de Bourgues bravely sacrificing himself three times in one partnership for the greater good.
Brendan McCarthy grinding out runs the hard way — mostly ones and twos, occasionally with lungs burning.
The Lads, however, were having none of it.
Batting with double runs, they ran like they’d had two cans of Lift Plus, fielded like it was a Black Caps trial, and bowled with zero sympathy for ageing bodies or family relationships.
There were no apologies:
Harry Mason discovered wickets are fun… but expensive.
Wyatt and Brody cashed in with some clean striking.
Lincoln McCarthy treated the short boundary like it owed him money.
Lewis Clarke politely reminded everyone that Australian juniors apparently come fully assembled.
By the time the dust settled and the calculator came out, the Lads’ doubled total reached a frankly ridiculous 334 runs, prompting several dads to suggest rule changes for next year.
Dads vs Lads Golden Moment:
Wyatt James politely hitting Sam Wilson (bowling at full pace 135kph) over cow corner for 6 runs. (the banter will be eternal on this one)
The Real Winner
Despite the scoreboard doing the dads no favours, the real victory came after the game — with a BBQ shared by players, parents, siblings and supporters, plenty of laughs, and the kind of conversations that only happen when cricket, family and community collide.
We battled a bit of drizzle, a few pulled muscles, and some bruised pride — but once again cricket and community were the real winners.
Days like this are exactly what build our cricketing culture and strengthen Papamoa Cricket Club.
Same time next year, lads…
Just don’t expect the rules to stay the same 😉
Result: Lads 334/14 - Dads 189/12
We are not completely sure who won......
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