One of the most prestigious events on the secondary schools' sporting calendar in New Zealand, cricket's Gillette Cup finals, will be played out over the weekend in Palmerston North.

The teams who have qualified for this year's event are: Kelston Boys' High School, Hamilton Boys' High School, Wanganui Collegiate and Southland Boys' High School.

The tournament opens at Fitzherbert Park on Friday when Wanganui play Kelson and Southland play Hamilton.

On Saturday, Kelston play Hamilton and Southland meet Wanganui.

On the last day, Hamilton play Wanganui and Kelston play Southland.

Kelston qualified by beating Dilworth School, Sacred Heart College, Westlake Boys' High School, King's College and Whangarei Boys' High School.

Hamilton beat Te Awamutu College, Hillcrest High School, St Paul's Collegiate and Tauranga Boys' College.

Wanganui beat Wanganui High School, St Augustine's College, New Plymouth Boys' High School and Wellington College.

Southland beat Verdon College, James Hargest High School, Waitaki Boys' High School, Otago Boys' High School and St Andrew's College.

Over the years the tournament has fashioned an outstanding record of achievement by its participants. Thirty-three finalists have gone on to play first-class cricket and eight, Matthew Bell, Robert Kennedy, Brendon McCullum, Hamish Marshall, Jacob Oram, Andrew Penn, Mathew Sinclair and Scott Styris have gone on to play for New Zealand while former Otago, Auckland and Wellington player Ian Billcliff helped Canada qualify for the World Cup and is a strong chance to appear at it in February.

The highest score in the tournament's history was 122 not out scored by Jamie Rae of Wanganui Collegiate. Seven centuries in total have been scored while Bell and Robert Lawson each finished matches on 99 not out.

The best bowling belongs to Mark Pearson who took seven for 32 for Auckland Grammar against Wanganui Collegiate in 2000.

The highest score by a team was 337/6 scored by Wanganui Collegiate against Rathkeale College in 1997.

The finalists' teams are:

Kelston Boys' High School: Shaun Page, Michael Forbes, Jason Fuller, Roneel Hira, Chris Langdon, Barry Lynch, Ben Mailata, James Matthews, Paul Matthews, Fa'a'sao Mulivai, Anand Patel, Chris Scheib. Team management: Chris McGarvey, Blair Webby, Sagren Govender.

Hamilton Boys' High School: Jason Perrett, Keir Bettley, Daniel Boughtwood, Anton Devcich, Dane McLeod, Sam McLeod, Jono McNeill, Sam Thomas, Bryce Turner, Bradley Watling, Cameron Weight, Ben Wilcock. Coach: Chris Kuggeleijn.

Wanganui Collegiate: Ben Collier, Josh Ambler, James Barton, Guy Bryden, Richard de Gruchy, Darcy Hooper-Smith, Jack Jefferd, Jonathan Kight, Tom Lance, Ben Orton, Willy White, Richard Wylie. Team management: Robert Wake, Rob van Dort.

Southland Boys' High School: Tim McClean, Matthew Anderson-Stewart, Mark Beer, Campbell Cuthill, Shaun Fitzgibbon, Hamish Hargest, Regan Mauheni, Mike McClean, Andrew Mills, Daniel Ramsay, Hamish Skelt, James Wadsworth. Team management: Lindsay McClean, Peter Skelt.

Previous winners were: 1990, Palmerston North BHS; 1991, St Kentigern College; 1992, Otago BHS; 1993, Otago BHS; 1994, Whangarei BHS; 1995, Wanganui Collegiate; 1996, St Patrick's College (Silverstream), 1997, Wanganui Collegiate; 1998, Palmerston North BHS, 1999 Christchurch BHS; 2000, Auckland Grammar; 2001, Wellington College.

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