CRICKET: Comeback kid has certain cup on his mind

HAMISH BIDWELL
It was February 17, 2003 and Manawatu captain Ross Taylor was handing Campbell Furlong the hallowed Hawke Cup.
Yes, for the first time since they relinquished it to Bay of Plenty in 1987, Hawke's Bay were the holders of the most prized possession in minor association cricket.
It was to be a short-lived tenure, with Hawke's Bay losing the cup, by an innings and 18 runs to Northland, in its first defence. Furlong missed that game, along with every other one since.
In that time, Hawke's Bay have yet to even earn another challenge, but at least one of those things is about to change today. After almost four years, the 2003 skipper is finally back in the Hawke's Bay side, coincidentally, to play Manawatu in their Zone Two elimination match back on Fitzherbert Park.
Following two years in retirement and a low-key return to the game via club cricket last summer, Furlong is back in the "big" time. Contracted to Central Districts for the State Shield one-day competition, starting on December 23, this and next weekend's home match against Wairarapa, mark his last two hit-outs before the Stags' campaign.
And he'll need them too, after work commitments and injury kept him out of Hawke's Bay's two pre-season fixtures. But with his leg problem mended, he's raring to go.
"It's 100 percent now. I started off with a calf and that came right and then I did a hill run and that stretched the achilles," Furlong said.
Aside from keeping out of Hawke's Bay's early programme, the achilles also prevented Furlong from taking part in CD's rigorous fitness training. While it was tough at the time, he can chuckle about it now.
"A veteran call, some would say. It's bloody tough when you go to the camps and you see everyone slogging it out and you can't do anything. The guys have been good and it was more the fringe players who were starting to ask the question.
"I'll admit, on the outside, it doesn't look too good when I've been out for a couple of years, get a contract and then get injured. But injuries happen, it's part of being a sportsman.
"Once I made the decision to come back, I decided 'yep, I'm going to do this right'. So at the start of the season I went straight into it and something had to give. I spoke to the physio about it and he said 'well, you know the 1974 model doesn't run as smoothly as the newer ones' and that's true."
Harder still has been having the Stags boys playing their four-day match against Otago at McLean Park. Furlong wants to be out there with them, rather than having to wait his turn in the one-day games.
"You do feel like that, especially with the game being here and watching the Ashes the other day," said Furlong.
"You get all excited about it, but also nervous. Real nervous. It's more the build-up and I know that once I get there (to Nelson for the Stags' match against Wellington) I'll still have nerves, but it's very exciting."
Of this weekend's match, Furlong says the senior pros in the Hawke's Bay team will really have to contribute.
Manawatu are a tough foe and the Fitzherbert Park wicket traditionally nips about, so the batsmen will need to show a mixture of tenacity and patience.
Mind you, that could all be academic after a workman inadvertently dug into the ground's irrigation system yesterday, rendering the ground more Lake Fitzherbert than Fitzherbert Park.