Cricket: Net bowlers deliver for Cup teams

Craig Ross with part of the blue army of net bowlers at Nelson Park, Napier, who will provide net bowling to World Cup teams. Photo / Duncan Brown

Hawke's Bay is providing an army of net bowlers in the next two weeks to whet the appetite of international cricket teams playing in the ICC World Cup.

Initially 50 voluntary net bowlers were mustered to chug in at the one-way crease for the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New Zealand and West Indies teams.

"It's worked out now to 30 because four trainings have been cancelled," says Craig Ross, who is the CD director of cricket.

"The Black Caps came in a bit earlier [on Sunday from Auckland] because the original schedule would have been pretty maximal," Ross says of the Mike Hesson-coached New Zealand who set the cup alight with a nail-biting one-wicket victory over cup favourites Australia in Auckland last Saturday.

However, the recruitment exercise required organisers to scout further into the Central Districts catchment area to provide net bowlers through Hawke's Bay Cricket Association (HBCA) "as and when required".

Ross attributes regional knowledge of "go-to guy" Scott Briasco, of Napier, in orchestrating the entire operation from a CD perspective.

Two net bowlers - a leg spinner and an inswing pace bowler - were secured from outside the Bay to fulfil teams' requirements.

"All the teams are scouted with the type of bowlers they have in the squad and the type of bowlers they will be facing."

Enter Jamie Holmes, a leggie from Wairarapa for the UAE, and Christie Biljoen, of Namibia, who lives in Wanganui, as the inswinger with reasonable pace for the Black Caps.

"It's pretty tricky but we're committed. Our greatest challenge is getting spin bowlers because CD are light with those," Ross says.

The net bowlers have had to juggle work and studies to do the region proud.

"For their time it's a great experience to be involved with the World Cup, a huge buzz.

"They get to bowl to some of the best players," Ross says.

Cup organisers have provided Reebok apparel (bags, T-shirts, caps) which they will keep and they received tickets to today's Pakistan v UAE game at McLean Park.

Briasco had also engineered sprucing up the training nets with ceiling covers to prevent the balls flying everywhere.

"I think everyone in New Zealand will admit until the World Cup started everyone was pretty relaxed and not thinking much about it," Ross says.

The "humming" Black Caps have lit the fuse of cricket lovers.

Ross saluted HBCA chief executive Craig Findlay and administrator Dale Smidt as vital cogs in the process.

Various Bay premier men's club teams have suspended some Saturday matches in the next two weekends to fulfil the demands of the World Cup campaign.

Cup national operations manager Gavin Larsen says the net-bowling programme was the result of year-long deliberations.

"One of our key focuses was to deliver quality trainings for the teams," says Larsen,which includes outfields to simulate match conditions at Mclean Park.

"We are confident Nelson Park has a great history of producing good, flat wickets," says the former New Zealand international whose frugality as a bowler earned him the nickname "The Postman".

Various cricket associations, Larsen says, have been pivotal in ensuring things went smoothly. The feedback from operations at Dunedin, Christchurch and Nelson had been fantastic and he didn't expect Napier to be any different.

Says Ross: "The Napier City Council has played a huge part in this for obvious reasons so it has been a real collaborative process."

The weather gods also had joined the cup party.

"We know all the teams will enjoy the quality facilities and hospitality from people in Hawke's Bay."