Stumps fly as Herald man takes on Auckland Cricket’s new high-tech bowling machine
Brett Randell has me pinned down. The deliveries the under-19 international cricketer has been directing my way at an increasingly alarming pace have either flown past off stump or been met by a hurried forward defensive prod.
Despite having produced a decent Chris Martin impression, I survive Randell's opening salvo. So I'm down but remarkably not yet out when Auckland Aces all-rounder Matt Quinn comes steaming in. The right armer's run-up isn't all that intimidating, so I fancy my chances of giving myself a little room and lofting him inside out over cover.
Oh dear. Quinn's 137km/h thunderbolt sends my stumps flying everywhere. But my wicket won't be a memorable one for the up-and-coming star - and not just because I'm rubbish. The bowler who just splattered my stumps was merely a video version of Quinn.
The ball I didn't get anywhere near hitting, however, was very real. Eight years after Nintendo's Wii system revolutionised gaming by linking players' real life movements to those on a video screen, the concept has been adapted to create a high-tech training system.
