St Paul’s Collegiate School’s new Director of Cricket wants to inspire and serve others to help them follow their passions. This outlook is embedded in his DNA from a whakapapa of whaanau who works in education, sport and the ministry.

The new Director of Cricket, Mr Duncan Murray and his family are relocating to Waikato from Wellington where he held multiple positions as head coach of Wellington College 1st XI, New Zealand Maaori Secondary School Boys, Wellington Under 19 Women’s Coach and assistant coach of A Wellington Blaze.

Gillette Cup National Champions, Super Smash T20 domestic champions and National Under 19 champions are all accolades under Duncan’s coaching leadership. Duncan also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and has a strong passion for music, kapa haka, and Physical Education. Duncan’s mantra and his drive to see students thrive both in and out of the classroom are evident through his ‘5E’ philosophy: enjoyment, engagement, enhancement, encouragement and empathy.

His family is from a long line of educational and pastoral leaders with his Dad (former black cap #114) a retired school principal of Naenae and Tawa College and his Mum a former head of department of music at Tawa College. Duncan’s grandparents served as missionaries in China during WW2 with Grandpa Reverend Frank Duncan held in high regard across various churches throughout New Zealand. Duncan’s wife, Ness, also works in education as a Physical Education and Health teacher. Duncan and Ness can be seen regularly supporting their children Josh (21), McKay (12), Maddox (10) and Frankie (8) at sporting, musical and dance performances in the Wellington region. St Paul’s looks forward to having McKay start as a Year 9 day pupil in 2024.

Duncan will be relocating to Hamilton early on in Term 4 and will be joined by the rest of the family for the start of the 2024 school year. A very warm welcome to Duncan and his family to our school.