Kamo Cricket Club's overseas professional Terry Duffin is more experienced than his years suggest and has plenty to offer the young side this year.
The left-handed batsman has done it all, rising from relative obscurity to captain Zimbabwe in 13 one-day internationals before joining a long list of cricketers who have
resigned from their contracts with the troubled country's cricket board.
Duffin said the reasons he was picked as captain - without an ODI under his belt - were never made clear to him. He was one of a completely new team of players selected after captain Heath Streak was sacked by Zimbabwe Cricket, prompting a walkout by 14 other international players in protest.
"I was playing first-class cricket with guys like Heath Streak and the Flower brothers at the time but I wasn't hugely involved with Zimbabwe cricket then, so when the season finished I went to [play in] England and it didn't really affect me," he said.
Stepping into the void Streak and the others left was difficult on their replacements but had its moments as well.
"All the guys were in the same boat, none of us had much in the way of experience, so most of the time it was really enjoyable," he said. After 13 matches in charge, Duffin was sacked as captain although he went on to play another 10 ODIs and two test matches against India for Zimbabwe.
Duffin, 26, has been on the road playing professionally since 2002. He based himself in England for the Northern Hemisphere summers before returning to play in Zimbabwe but, after last summer, decided to look for something different.
He has become more involved with the coaching side of the game in England and is continuing to develop that in Whangarei this summer.
"I'm really enjoying it and I've found I'm enjoying coaching the kids here too."
His batting will help strengthen the Kamo line-up that took a hit over the off-season with the loss of Rhys Farrand to Auckland cricket and Ian and Chris Page to City.
After completing his contract here, he will return to Zimbabwe for a month before heading to England for another summer with Winsley in the Wiltshire Premier competition.
