CRICKET - Martin's 6-wicket haul puts him top of the ND record board

It is fitting that former Northland cricketer Bruce Martin set a Northern Districts record at the home of Northland cricket, Cobham Oval. Martin became the ND bowler to take the most 5-wicket bags in first class cricket, after taking 6/73 from a mammoth 37 overs during their final match of the season against Wellington over the weekend.
"It's been a couple of years since I've had a five-for and getting the record has been a personal highlight for me - I've been chasing it for a few years now," he said.
The left-arm off spinner was level on 11 with Bill Puna, another off-spinner who was a foundation player for ND, but his 12th five-wicket haul now puts him one clear.
His bowling effort helped dismiss Wellington for 321, including taking the prize scalp of another former Northland cricketer Matthew Bell for 100, to give ND a good chance of taking first innings points in the match.
At stumps yesterday, top performances by fellow Northlanders Brad Wilson (94) and Michael Parlane (76 not out) saw the ND Knights to 217/2 and unless the Wellington spinners can follow Martin's lead in this morning's session , the home side will be in the box seat.
"It's a nice wicket for me and I'm really looking forward to bowling in the second dig as well, there's really nothing in it for the seamers," he said.
The 28-year-old is hoping to claim at least another four wickets in Wellington's second innings to make it 10 for the match. Martin rates the six-wicket bag as his second-best highlight for the year after winning the State Shield one-day competition.
"That was a really big deal for us, particularly with our disappointing form in the Twenty20 competition and some patchy form in the four-day competition," he said.
"Last time I played up here [at Cobham] I bowled for the first two sessions and then I had to go down to the New Zealand A game in Queenstown, so I had to leave in the middle of my bowling spell, which was pretty bizarre," he said.
It comes at a time when the former Kerikeri High School student is tossing up whether he is ready to head back North.
"I'm not far off moving back North now, I love it up here, I miss the fishing, the beaches, mates and the lifestyle absolutely and can't wait to get back," he said.
He has been living in Hamilton since returning from a year at the national cricket academy at Lincoln in 1998.
It has taken him nine seasons to achieve his milestone after playing his first match for the Northern Districts top side in the 1999-2000 season.