Editorial: Richie Downs in a league of his own

Richard Downs

There are often sporting moments that will go down in history.

Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle or more recently the All Blacks reclaiming the Rugby World Cup.

Rotorua cricket had its own great sporting moment at the weekend, when Eastern Pirates cricket all-rounder Richie Downs managed what can only be described as miraculous feat - a five-wicket maiden. His side were playing against Geyser 2, and with Geyser batting first, things were looking pretty grim. Downs' side were in all sorts of trouble with their opponents cruising at 170/4 in the 37th over.

Downs turned the game on its head when he took five wickets in five balls and helped restrict their opponents to just 173/9 by the 40th over.

To add icing to his already spectacular cake, Downs, a left-handed batsman, also managed to score the winning runs for his side, finishing on 24no. Both feats, scoring the winning runs and the five-wicket maiden were a first for the hard-hitting, deceptively quick bowler and a moment I'm sure he and many of his teammates will relive over a few cold ones.

That's what I've always loved about sport - it can be a great leveller. You can go out one day and be the team hero and the very next day the team villain losing the match for your side.

Downs' spell with the ball goes a little further. Not too many people will experience that sort of excitement and for the cricketing purist - this was a special moment. Luckily Richard got to share it with his brother John who was also playing at the time.

Trying to find out what you call five from five has had the newsroom speculating. Some are calling it a double hat-trick while others are saying it is a triple hat-trick. We would love to hear what our readers think.