NZ Cricket Rabbit Hole #1
An All Black and Ajaz, Trent Boult tons up and Alex Lees plays for the BoP
So I sat down to write a little about my old playing days and somehow ended up down a rabbit hole of Hawke Cup history and Provincial A squad matches. Let me start by saying I never played at anything like that level, but I had come across the Northern Districts website and was scrolling through the players, completely off task, when I clicked on Brett Hampton’s profile. Now I did that because I remember watching him play an ND A game here in Taupo, where I live, and I liked the way he played, with his relatively aggressive batting approach he had provided bits of action on an otherwise slow day.
So I clicked on his profile and suddenly found myself in amongst an archive of New Zealand cricket scorecards, from first-class to minor cricket, as I looked for the scorecard of that match where I saw him knock up a quick 50. Turns out that was the start of a good few hours diving back through the years and following links, coming across oddities and achievements alike, such as a young, soon to be All Black taking 10 wickets in a match for Taranaki and playing alongside Test 10-for star spinner Ajaz Patel for Central Districts A.
Jordie Barrett was a good young cricketer, as evidenced in his appearances for Team Rugby in the popular Black Clash matches over the years. In early 2015, aged just 17, he took 7-41 and 3-49 as Taranaki routed Wanganui at the beautiful Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, in a Hawke Cup Zone 2 match. In January of 2016 he appeared in a pair of Central Districts A one-day matches, playing alongside Patel and with a host of other first-class cricketers involved. In his first match, against Auckland A, he got a golden duck but bowled well, taking 2-39 off his 9.1 overs, capturing the wickets of current Netherlands opener Max O’Dowd (for 82 off 67) and current Auckland first-class player, and Samoan international, Sean Solia. In his second match, he managed 1 batting at 11, last man out in the 48th over, before taking 1-20 off 5, getting another first-class cricketer out, this time current Otago batsman Nick Kelly. Meanwhile, his teammate Ajaz must have been landing it on a dime, as he took 4-11 off his 10 overs. Later in the year, Barrett was playing rugby for Canterbury and had been included on an All Blacks tour as a non-playing apprentice. In 2017 he was playing for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, and later made his Test debut against Samoa before tackling the British and Irish Lions and his All Blacks journey was underway, alongside his brothers Beaudan and Scott. His cricketing career was left in the past, aside from Black Clash appearances and getting “escorted” out of the MCG during the Boxing Day Test in 2019.
An All Black and Ajaz - scorecard
Ajaz himself has toiled away in the minor leagues, representing Hawkes Bay in the Hawke Cup (even opening the batting for them on occasion) and Central Districts A, mostly before becoming the Black Caps number one spinner on call. However in early March, 2021, he was rolling his arm over against Northern Districts A at a damp and dreary Owen Delany Park in Taupo, taking 0-36 off 15 overs in a rain-affected 3-day match. At this stage he’d already lead New Zealand to Test match success, such as his debut in 2018 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, where he took 5 for 59 in the second innings including the vital wicket of Azhar Ali, lbw for 65, as the Black Caps won by 4 runs. Nine months on from his cricketing purgatory in Taupo, he was back in the city of his birth, Mumbai, taking 10 for 119 at the Wankhede Stadium against India.
During New Zealand’s recent unsuccessful Test series against England, Trent Boult became Test crickets highest run-getter from the number 11 position. He certainly has a unique batting style, one that is rather enjoyable to watch, both for effect and for a laugh, but he can actually wield the willow, as the above Test record indicates. Playing for Otumoetai Cadets at the National Club Championships in April 2012, Boult hit two incredible centuries within the space of three days. On the 10th, against Takapuna at Cornwall Park, he scored 123 off 104 balls batting at number 6, an innings that included 10 fours and 7 sixes. The next highest score was just 16, out of a team total of 201. Two days later, playing against Wellington’s Eastern Suburbs club at the same ground, he belted an even more impressive 117 off 55 balls. This innings included a ridiculous 13 sixes, alongside 6 fours, and his contribution was exactly half of the teams score of 234. Now Otumoetai lost both those matches, and finished 4th in the tournament overall, one that involved the top club side from each of New Zealand’s six provinces. Boult however finished as the highest run-scorer in the tournament, making 378 runs at an average of 63 and a strike rate of 130. Better known for his bowling of course, he was at that stage 3 Tests into his career, having made his debut earlier in the summer in the famous win over Australia at Hobart. In that match he scored 21 crucial runs in New Zealand’s second innings, off just 13 balls, as the Black Caps squeaked home by 7 runs. By the time he got to the Club Championships later that summer, he could boast a Test batting average of 59, thanks to three not outs and some lusty blows against the Aussies and South Africa. And he was yet to take on the number 11 role, batting at 10, ahead of the ultimate batting bunny, Chris Martin.
Boult was far from the top wicket-taker for the tournament though. Hell, he wasn’t even the top wicket taker for his team. That honour went to his older brother, Jono, who snared 10 in the six matches compared to Trent’s 6.
Another oddity I found was an aspiring English opening batsman making gains in New Zealand, playing Hawke Cup cricket for the mighty Bay of Plenty in 2017. After the Bays own Kane Williamson had spent a few summers over in Yorkshire with the county side, the Black Caps skipper helped jack up a sabbatical for the then 23 year old Yorkshire opener Alex Lees, who now is starting to cement his place at the top of England’s order in the era of McCullum and Stokes. On debut for Bay of Plenty against Counties Manukau at the Bay Oval in beautiful Mount Manganui, Lees hit 223 off 271 balls, sharing in a second wicket stand of 197 with Peter Drysdale, the younger brother of Olympic double gold medalist rower, Mahe. Lees stayed in New Zealand for a couple of months, adding a knock of 141 against Hawkes Bay in February, again at the Mount. He played 5 matches in total, also appearing against Hamilton and Nelson. In his last match, a return match against Counties Manukau, this time in Tauranga, he made a golden duck in his only at bat, finishing the season with 410 runs at 68.33.
Alex Lees dominates Hawke Cup match on debut
His debut 223 became a record for the Bay in Hawke Cup cricket, eclipsing the previous record of 194, scored by the man where this rabbit hole began, Brett Hampton against Hamilton in January of 2013.
Maybe on the weekend I’ll get to writing about myself, but to be perfectly honest, I find this kind of stuff way more interesting!! Expect another rabbit hole journey soon!