Greg Hay’s cricket legacy honoured with special bat donation

Greg Hay’s deeds on local cricket pitches may be over but the bat with which he smacked hundreds of runs for Waimea Toi Toi United will now stay with the club forever.

On Friday, the club was donated Greg’s signed bat, gifted by his father Peter Hay and former teammate and friend Andrew Schwass.

The pair won the bat at the Summit Real Estate charity golf tournament last month and decided donating it to the club it would be a great way to commemorate his time with the club, which spanned two decades.

Peter and Andrew had Greg’s playing stats added to the bat and presented it the club at its annual quiz night on Friday at the Stables.

Greg’s cricket career began with Toi Toi, making his senior debut at the age of 14, before representing Nelson as a 16-year-old.

He went on to play for Central Districts before retiring from all cricket at the end of last season.

Peter says Greg was always keen to play for Toi Toi when he had the chance. “Greg was incredibly loyal to Toi Toi, he loved playing for the club.”

Among the stats on the bat are Greg’s impressive 7142 career runs for Central Districts at an average of 42.51 and his 3706 runs for Nelson at an average of 44.12. He also captained Nelson to a Hawke Cup victory in 2019 and won two Plunket Shields with CD in 2019 and 2023. While he never played for the Blackcaps, he did represent New Zealand A on a tour to India and the New Zealand XI in 2017/18.