Not only that, he was often Hawke’s Bay’s most penetrative bowler this season as well.
McCarthy knocked the top off Taradale’s order as they were bowled out for 166 in Sunday’s Shrimpton Cup final then carved Josh Young through the covers to get Tech to the winning total with six wickets and 6.5 overs to spare.
“It’s been a whirlwind of a season, not just for me personally but the boys in general,” McCarthy said.
“We went through a bit of a slump, some people were losing enthusiasm but we brought it all together for the last big dance.
“We trained pretty hard over the last couple of weeks to make sure we were ready for it all, but it hasn’t been easy with a very new and inexperienced bowling group. To put it together the way that we did is unbelievable.”
You have to push McCarthy a bit in order for him to dwell on the individual role he’s played.
Medical studies at the University of Auckland have been his focus in recent years, with cricket something he did for fun in the holidays.
But the elevation of Findlay and Annand to Central Districts’ ranks and the injury that’s kept Watson from bowling meant McCarthy had to assume a role and a responsibility that he was unaccustomed to.
“The first couple of weeks I struggled. I was going at six, seven an over, not taking any wickets and I was searching,” said McCarthy.
“I felt like my role was to take wickets and be that leader but, in reality, you don’t have to change your game at all, you just have to play to your strengths and everything else will follow.”
Control, the ability to shape the ball both ways in the air and nibble it off the seam are McCarthy’s obvious strengths. He’s not express pace, but at both club and representative level he’s had a happy knack of getting good players out simply by trying to keep the stumps in play at all times.
“I’m pretty proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish, without looking at just personal figures,” McCarthy said.
“I had goals and aspirations, in terms of playing for Hawke’s Bay, and I accomplished a few of those and I played a lot more Hawke’s Bay games than I ever expected to.
“Just winning this final has made it all worth it. It’s been a long old season, though, because I’m used to a shorter season, given university studies, and I’m just so proud of the boys.”
McCarthy had figures of 3-8 after his first seven overs, before finishing with 3-22. Not for the first time this season, teenage off-spinners Ollie Beale (3-14) and Andrew Rawnsley (2-19) also bowled impressively.
Both, but particularly Rawnsley, remain works in progress, but neither tends to bowl a lot of rubbish and each is always in the contest, which has been a hallmark of Tech players through the years.
This is a new era for the club and, especially with the ball, they’ve had to find different ways to restrict and dismiss opposition batters. But, having been quite a quiet side for much of the season, the intent and accuracy of Tech’s fielding was as good on Sunday as any time in their history.
That made the 45 off 51 balls scored by Young for Taradale all the more impressive. Callum Hewetson, Sachin Jayawardena and Nihal Shilar all made starts, but it was Young’s innings that gave Taradale something to bowl at.
“We knew we were a little bit short but 160 is one of those niggly totals,’’ Taradale captain Luke Kenworthy said.
“Anything over 150 requires them to actually bat and if we’d been bowled out for 120 or 130, it would have given them the chance to come out and have a real go and they would have had the licence to lose four or five wickets.
“To take them to 44 overs, the way they usually chase totals, I can’t be prouder of the boys.”
“Bittersweet” was the word on Kenworthy’s lips on a few occasions after the match.
His Taradale team have earned an unenviable reputation for beating themselves. Put them in a tight contest and they’d inevitably find a way to lose it.
But they became an increasingly formidable proposition as the season wore on, as evidenced by Saturday’s pulsating five-run semifinal win over Havelock North.
Having shown themselves they can compete with or beat anyone, Taradale’s challenge is to start next summer in a similarly confident manner.
“Obviously disappointed with the result and probably in a couple of weeks' time or next week when we have our prizegiving, we’ll have a debrief and we’ll come away as proud,” said Kenworthy.
“At the start of the season, the goal was to make a semifinal and we made a final, we’ve won a Laver & Wood Cup, we’ve missed out on T20 semis on run rate and finished second in the overall so, looking back on it, the players should be proud, but you never like losing a final.
“We had a couple of chances there today that we just didn’t take.”
One of those was from the bat of Watson, whose 52 was important to Tech’s chase. Watson was one of four Texans to fall to the excellent left-arm orthodox bowling of Jayawardena, as Taradale tried valiantly to defend 166.
As low-scoring games can be, the final was nail-biting at times but the best team won.
There were times this season when you wondered if often winning games easily had weakened Tech’s customary resolve. They didn’t seem as up for a fight as they have been in the past but when it counted on Sunday, they found a way to win and were able to add this trophy to the overall championship they secured several weeks ago.
“What a fitting contest to finish a pretty good season for both teams,” Tech captain Watson said.
“Taradale were the form team coming into it and what a run. Ten games unbeaten is something to be seriously proud of.
“They’ve always had the players and the names, it was just about having belief and they’ve definitely got it and that stems from some of their senior players really valuing themselves.
“They’ve got some heart now and that’s great for the competition, because they are so good. They seriously pushed us and we had to bowl and field incredibly well to beat them.”
