The Pink Report

Meet Mitchell Santner

Mitchell Santner, our left-arm orthodox spinner from Hamilton, is the youngest face in the Yahoo!NZ Northern Knights squad this season. After being included in the twelve for the opening rounds, 19-year-old Mitchell made his first-class debut in round three in Dunedin against the Otago Volts - and before too long had his maiden wicket by bowling young top order batsman Michael Bracewell, the ball clipping the top of his off-stump.

Add to that the fact that he got Blackcap Nathan McCullum soon after (flummoxed by a fullish delivery after being tied down, caught at full stretch by Joey Yovich at short cover); was then chiefly responsible for running out top scorer Sam Wells; finished with figures of 2-71 off 28 overs and did all this on a good batting track and it was a healthy debut for the teenager who made his name last season playing for Hamilton in the Fergus Hickey and Hawke Cup competitions and particularly for Northern Districts A, which had a series of matches arranged for them against neighbours Auckland A. 

This week Mitchell’s again in the 12 for the first Seddon Park game this season - putting him line for his first Knights match in his home city, depending on the wicket of course. I caught up with the handy young talent to ask how he’s finding the big step up to first-class cricket.

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So talk us through how you got the big news, Mitchell: how did you find out you were in the Plunket Shield squad this summer? 

I was actually studying in the library at university for my exams. (Northern Districts selector) Pat Malcon rang me up to say congratulations, I was in the squad. Then I had a phone call later on that day from Grant Bradburn - it was about 8pm then and I was still battling away at uni. It was a bit of a surprise to me because I hadn’t played any of the ND A versus the Knights warm-up games leading into the season, so I was stoked... but still had to focus on exams.

What are you studying at uni?

I’m doing mechanical engineering at Waikato. It’s a relatively new course there, it’s been offered for just the last four or five years. I didn’t really want to have to leave and go to the engineering schools in Auckland or Canterbury and stop playing cricket, so that’s worked out handily for me.

What did you get told when you were brought into the Knights’ squad? What did the coaches say they expected of you?

My role was to bat in the lower order, around eight or nine, a bowling allrounder. Concentrate on my spin bowling, essentially.

And how have you found it?

It’s a very good environment to be around. I guess going up to the first match in Whangarei I would have loved to have been on the park, but when you’re a spinner it doesn’t help when the track’s a green seamer. Even as 12th man it was really interesting for me, though. I hadn’t actually faced many of the guys in the Knights squad before, apart from the guys from Hamilton. I hadn’t faced Trent Boult for example, so facing them all in the nets at Cobham Oval was a good experience. And I had never bowled to James Marshall or Brad Wilson. 

That becomes an advantage when you do take the field in a match: most of the guys around New Zealand have never faced you and will be unsure what to expect.

Hopefully I’ll surprise them!

Of course with Joey Yovich injuring himself in that first match in Whangarei, you did end up fielding quite a bit - a handy introduction for you, maybe. 

Yeah, it was a bit of a shame for Joey, but a really good experience for me: right in the action, watching Boulty swing the ball and take wickets. It was certainly an exciting game.

So what would you say has been most impressive aspect of the Knights’ Plunket Shield squad, now that you’re there and can see how they go about things up close?

I think for me it’s how consistent the bowlers are. They’re always on the spot or thereabouts, right from the first ball; as opposed to club cricket where you get a few good balls and then they give you a few bad ones. You have to really fight to get your runs at first-class level. You’ve got to be ready to go, switched on from the first ball. And I think in club cricket you get to really know all your opponents, whereas it takes a lot longer in domestic cricket to build up that experience and file it away. It’s a great challenge.

Last summer was a strong one for you in the Fergus Hickey contest and the Northern Districts A team. What put you in good stead for the step up this season, do you think?

Well the competition’s a lot harder at that level when you come into it, and I was really working on my game throughout last season. It paid off near the end when I got a few runs in the As. It’s taught me to battle through it when the going gets a bit tough - just knuckle down. I had one innings that was a bit tough, a long bat where I was getting bounced, and I battled through it and got 80 or so. That was a good experience. 

Although you’re batting down the order for the Knights, you’ve opened the batting for Hamilton and obviously have got some good skills there. How do you balance your batting and your bowling development, what gets priority?

I think my bowling, because in the Yahoo!NZ Knights team I’m definitely a bowling allrounder. But I still work quite a lot on my batting. I donate different days to specialty batting and bowling sessions and then you’ve got club trainings where you can just do both.

Do you find if one’s going well, the other’s going sweet too?

Yeah, lately both have been going good, which has made for a good start to the season. Sometimes it helps though, if you’ve bowled badly, to know that you can put it into the batting. 

You’re obviously a very youthful spin bowler, the art they say takes time, full of nuances. When did you feel like your bowling was really starting to come on?

I only started bowling spin when I was in fifth form. I used to bowl left-arm pace before that, but in the last few years I think I’ve started progressing a lot and, especially in the last two years, my bowling’s come a long way. I feel like I’ve come up the ranks quite fast, got to places I wasn’t back in the day. 

Have you had mentors within the district?

Craig Ross and Jimmy Pamment have been coaching me, and (Northern Districts assistant coach) Graeme Stewart - they’re good mentors, all of them, and have helped me with cricket and just general business as well. 

I guess the ultimate role model Daniel Vettori has been away on Blackcaps duty during most of your development. Have you had much to do with Dan?

The only time I’ve really bowled to him is when we’ve been brought in to bowl to the Blackcaps or Knights as net bowlers when they’re in town, out the back of Seddon. He would give me some hints - that was very helpful. Bowling to the international teams passing through was very exciting, too. I bowled to Australia, Pakistan, England. I think I was a sixth-former when I first bowled to England.

Intimidating for a young fella?

At first it was, yeah. Especially bowling to someone like Ricky Ponting. But I’ve been around that scene for a few summers now so I just go do my best, not quite so nervous.

Who do you play for in Hamilton?

Old Boys. We’ve got Anurag Verma as well, BJ Watling when he’s around - and quite a few of the fellas who are in the Hamilton rep team, like Ross Fitz-John. We’ve got quite a strong team. 

You played in the Hawke Cup win in Blenheim last summer. That sounded like a terrific match.

It was. First Hawke Cup challenge I’ve played. I only got three wickets in the second innings and one, I think, in the first, but Joe Walker had a field day and it was good fun bowling together with him. Me and Joe bowled a lot together back at Hamilton Boys’ High School. 

People say some of those Hawke Cup matches are as hard-fought as any first-class game, especially when there are players involved who go back a long way with their provinces.

I’d believe it.

What do you really like about cricket, as a sport? What’s its hold on you?

Everything about it is a good challenge. I don’t like getting out. I don’t like getting smashed. But when you have a day, there’s a lot of satisfaction to take home. It’s a thinking game too, and I like the mental stimulation - in batting, not just in bowling. One lapse in concentration and you’re out, so it’s a good test of your mind. 

Putting a bowling plan together is very satisfying - when it works.

Especially when you set people up, eh. And especially on a track where they don’t turn or it’s batting-friendly. You knuckle down and stick to your plan.

Where are your favourite grounds to play?

I like Seddon Park. Cobham Oval’s a nice ground, too. They’re probably the two best grounds I’ve played at so far. In club cricket we play a lot at Galloway Park in Hamilton. And in the A's last year we played our matches against Auckland A at Weymouth, which is a good batting deck. I went to the national under-23s tournament in Lincoln last season too, which was a good challenge against a lot of fresh faces. Playing Auckland A was good but, game after game, it can get a bit boring.

It’s a real shame there isn’t the solid nationwide A programme that there was in days gone by. But this year New Zealand Cricket have at least finally brought back something for all the A teams, with a tournament planned for January.

Yeah, I think that will be down in Lincoln, too. That’s good. It’s helpful to get a look at some of the players you hope to play later on in domestic cricket. 

Does anyone else in your family play the game?

Yes, my brother Elliot. He’s 15 and at Hamilton Boys’ High - he plays in the first XI there. I played him in a club match a couple of weeks before the Plunket Shield started, but Old Boys came off better! He’s a good bowler (in fact Elliot was the top wicket-taker at ND’s region-wide Primary Boys’ Tournament a few years ago). He bowls right-arm leg-spin. 

Ooo, now that would be good for backyard training.

Yeah, I hit him around in the backyard. He’d probably tell you the same thing, mind!