The Pink Report

Changing Gears

Nobody tell Joey Yovich that gales are forecast today in Dunedin. It could tip him over the edge. I certainly sympathise, because there’s only so much gusty wind, bitter cold and ugly rain that us warm-blooded Northerners generally care for. I have it on good authority that the team spent their first few days in Dunedin this week in woolly slippers and beanies, rugged up in between, and that while Joey was waiting to bat someone was sent out for a blowtorch and ice pick. 

If the wild spring weather down south indeed behaves itself, today’s the start of the Yahoo!NZ Northern Knights’ Ford Trophy campaign. Despite the meteorological meltdown, things have been shaping up well so far with the squad perched on top of the Plunket Shield points table after three rounds and a host of the guys in great early season form. But one-day cricket can be such a different kettle of fish - and things went pear-shaped in that department last summer. So are we ready to stand and deliver?

Joey reports from Dunedin that putting last season’s lacklustre one-day results behind them has been front of mind for the team as they dig their coloured threads out of the kit bag. 

“Last summer was obviously disappointing for us all,” he says. “We prepared well and fired the odd shot here and there, but as a collected group we were never really where we knew we should be and where we had been in the past. We just didn’t put enough significant performances together on the park, but now we’re really looking forward to turning that around. We feel we’ve got the group to do it and we’ve good management, we’ve done all the right things - now we’ve just got to walk across that line and produce the results.”

The Plunket Shield pitch at University Oval this week was as flat as a Waikato back road, but there was enough in it on the first day to make the team hope they can win the toss and bat first today. 

“I think it will play exactly like the day one pitch we had,” Joey says. “You’d probably look to bat first on it and put runs on the board because if anything it’s going to deader, slower and lower. 

“As a batting unit, putting runs on the board is what helps you win one-day cricket, so we’ll be looking to mirror what we did on day one where we got off to a good start and got our runs quickly on a fresher surface - the best time for batting in that match was probably that first day when the pitch allowed the ball to skid on a little bit and you could play your shots around the wicket. But as time went on, it became a deadened wicket. You could stay in on it, but it wasn’t easy to score quick runs. 

“But if we’re batting second, it gets a bit gloomy down here in the afternoon - we might have to turn the lights on off the car!”

Batting is Joey’s primary focus this season. We’ve seen him scheduled as an opener in Whangarei (although a fielding injury then prevented him from taking up the role) and as a number four in Dunedin, contributing half-centuries in both matches. At University Oval, he brought up the 50 in fine style with a lofted drive for six, though he was ultimately annoyed that he didn’t go on to a big one in the conditions.

“It would have been nice to get an easy hundred - but also we were trying to get those bonus points by getting our runs in good time. I think the bonus points encourage positive cricket, it’s making the games speed along and there’s been some enterprising batting at times. There’s nothing like a few carrots out there to keep the game moving!”

Which is good when icicles might be growing from your clavicles otherwise.  

Joey’s role this season is to bat in the top five in both forms of the game, something he sees as a good challenge for someone whose job was once running in with the new ball in both formats and batting further down the order. Last season was one of his most forgettable: a shortened run-up wasn’t firing for him on the park, a thumb injury niggled away at him, he found his place in the team under threat and, just when he most needed runs, he got fired lbw for a duck on his home ground. People wondered if it was the end of his illustrious Northern career - one of just three men to have played 100 games for ND on both the first-class and one-day fronts and the side’s second-highest all-time first-class wicket-taker (only Cliff Dickeson, with 282, stands head of Joey’s 255). 

But going out on a low would not be fitting for such a positive competitor. 

“I love winning,” says Joey, “and I’ve been involved with nine titles with this team - fantastic memories, but I’m not done with putting trophies in the cabinet and we’re all focused on continuing the legacy for some time. If we do that, we’re going to see players going up to the next level within the environment and performing into the future. 

“So, it’s good to be back part of it and I’m looking forward to what the season brings. The new role is keeping me fresh and gives me another set of incentives and goals, as well. I’m still working on the bowling and I hope I can step up when required. I hope I can use the amount of experience I’ve had to be able to adapt.”

Speaking of which, how easy is it, I wondered, to suddenly have to flick between four-day and one-day modes, when everyone’s been concentrating on Plunket Shield cricket for a month? 

“Most of us have been together for a long time so we know each other well and it doesn’t take us much time to click into the one-day mode to be honest, even with a bunch of players coming in. Hamish Marshall just walked straight back in - he knows what’s expected when he joins the side and we know Hamish really well obviously. So we went about reviewing the four-dayer together, put that to bed on Wednesday and changed to coloured clothing mode. 

"It’s not a massive change at the end of the day because we’re trying to play a positive brand of cricket whether it be four-dayers or one-dayers. Everyone’s in a good frame of mind. Obviously we were disappointed with how we finished in Whangarei, but then the boys turned it around in Lincoln and, with a few personnel changes rolled in, we’ve carried that on in a shortened match here in Dunedin. I think it’s set us up quite nicely, although the Plunket Shield points table is still quite congested and we’ve still got a lot of work to do. But we’ll head into the next four-day match against Canterbury with a lot of positives to draw on.”

Joey says the real highlight of the past week was watching two faces of the future make their first-class debut in the same match.

“Mitchell Santner really had a solid start to his first-class career and he’ll be pretty happy with the conditions that were available to him. I think he’s a young man for the future. He reminds me of Cliff Dickeson in a way and I know Cliff has had a lot to do with him. He’s an exciting talent and just the way he goes about his game shows a lot of maturity for a young fella. So I was impressed to see what we have here with our young left-arm spinner. 

“And everyone was really rapt for Rags (Anurag Verma). I know he’s been chomping at the bit, having been part of the squad and been a “trainer” for a long time with us. To be given the opportunity at last - it was an unusual way for it to happen, starting out as 12th man and then coming in briefly on day four after BJ was called away, but with the rest of the squad arriving on Wednesday evening we were able to present his cap and we know it meant an awful lot to him. 

“And fair play to him, he’s worked hard to get where he is and done some really hard work to overcome the injury that came along with such bad timing for him. I think his Dad was going to fly down if he started in this match, but it’s great that he’s got the debut off his back now and can just look forward to thenext opportunity he gets - and hopefully it’s a full match.”

Joey was rapt to see BJ Watling nail his opportunity, too.

“A lot of talk has been around about where he’s at internationally and it was great to see a guy go out with a lot of speculation over him and perform the way he did. BJ batted for a long time, hit in the right areas and got the rewards. I think it was great that New Zealand Cricket gave him that opportunity to stay with us and spend time in the middle - and he took that chance and made hay whilst he could.

“He’s a real team man, BJ, and a real thinker about the game and works bloody hard at his game. When things build up he gets fairly nervous as well, which I think we all do in some way, shape or form. I think that’ll be something that’s been released quite nicely, right on cue as he goes over to Australia.”

All going to plan, today should be a special day for another in the camp as Graeme Aldridge becomes the eighth player to play 100 one-day games for the Yahoo!NZ Northern Knights. Perhaps there’ll be some musical celebrations afterwards, with Elton John’s Dunedin concert taking place just across the road from the cricket venue.

No doubt Elton would approve of the team’s Movember styles. 

“There’s a few corny ones around,” Joey reveals. “Hamish Marshall has got enough for a cat to lick off, Jimmy Baker’s got a really good one - he’s our Merv Hughes lookalike with the handlebars. Bradley Scott did have one growing, but has shaved it off after concocting some excuse about his new baby girl getting a rash from his sandpaper kisses. And Brent Arnel looks like Adolf Hitler. It’s good to see a fair few of the boys giving it a good crack. Meanwhile I thought at 35 I could grow a bit more hair, but I’m still struggling!”