CRICKET - Son's hat-trick is very golden

ONERAHI-Central batsman Barry Herman could hardly believe his luck on Saturday as he came to the crease to try to deny his son a hat-trick.
Herman had just completed a spell out in the middle umpiring in the Whangarei premier club cricket match against Whangarei Boys' High School when his son Tom turned the game on its ear in a single over.
After dismissing Boys' High for a paltry 133 in the 50-over match, many of the Onerahi players would have expected to cruise to the win, but their hopes were dashed when Tom Herman achieved a rare double hat-trick - with his dad one of the victims.
Herman Snr left his umpiring post after the fall of the third wicket but didn't get much time to get himself ready as Kelvin Johannson's wicket fell three balls later. Tom Elliot was next at the crease and was trapped leg before wicket first ball, which was when Herman Snr realised with horror, he was would be facing his son on a hat-trick.
"I was still chucking my gear on and I had to get out there, I was halfway there, when (WBHS player-coach) Jamie Lee asked me where my pads were, I then had to run back and put them on and by then everyone was having a bit of a giggle," he said.
"By the time I got out there the high school boys, who I know pretty well, were getting stuck into me and of course to make it worse I went first ball ... it's been quite some time since I went out for a golden duck," he said.
Barry admitted to feeling a number of emotions when he was given out LBW.
"I was gutted on one hand and happy on the other, I didn't know what to think," Herman said.
He said pride became the over-riding emotion when Tom went on to bowl Simon Waller next ball to claim an extremely rare double hat-trick.
The four-wicket haul left Onerahi reeling on the canvas at 8/54, with little chance of recovery and they were finally dismissed for 72. Only opener Craig Russell, with 38, managed to reach double figures.
The win was a great achievement for Boys High School, who have struggled in recent weeks.
"The hat-trick was an unbelievable achievement... the only bad thing about it was it took some of the gloss away from Sean Doel's great spell (of bowling)," high school captain Rory Darkins said. Doel opened the bowling and continued until he had completed his 10 overs to finish with five for 31. He was responsible for taking the first three Onerahi wickets including the in-form Onerahi batsman Stephen John. Josh Matthews was also in great form with the ball but didn't receive the reward he deserved. Matthews scored 28 in the Boys High innings, the second highest score behind Lee's 52.
The wicket also made batting difficult on the adjacent Kensington number-two wicket for the Kaipara Flats-Maungakaramea game. The ball kept extremely low and the Kaipara batsmen, after winning the toss and electing to bat, never looked comfortable.
The exception was number-three batsman Ray Beamish, 25, who along with Michael O'Flaherty, with 19, were the only ones to put up any resistance against Maungakaramea.
Craig Davy-Martin was outstanding for the Maungakaramea side. The medium pacer, who was promoted recently from the club's second XI, finished with his best figures of the season with 6/22 off nine overs.
Bowling at fourth change Davy-Martin seemed to have the ball on a string as he cleaned up the Kaipara middle and lower order.
In the final premier grade match of the day at Cobham Oval, an unbeaten 134 by City's unwanted Northern Districts all-rounder Joe Yovich knocked the fight out of Kamo.
Kamo got off to a good start by removing both City openers cheaply but then failed to take an early chance offered by Yovich.
Yovich scored the lion's share of the the City total of 237/7 and Kamo were never in the chase as they were finally dismissed for 131 in reply.