Cricket: McKay's pace begins to pay off

Andrew McKay took two wickets in his international debut against Bangladesh. Photo / Getty Images

Life has been full of surprises for new international pace bowler Andy McKay in the past few days.

First was his call-up to the New Zealand ODI squad to play Bangladesh when others appeared ahead of him in the national pecking order.

Then there were two wickets on debut in Napier on Friday night, with confirmation he's more slippery than he might appear from the boundary.

And finally, the verdict of New Zealand captain Dan Vettori that left-armer McKay was the quickest bowler he faced during the domestic Twenty20 competition last month.

Indeed Vettori, wearing his national selector's hat, admitted yesterday that his advocacy for the former Auckland bowler was based on his own experience of playing McKay for Northern Districts.

"We took a chance on him because of that pace," Vettori said yesterday.

"I think he can be on a par with Shane Bond when he gets it right, and that makes a real difference when you step up to international level."

Twelfth man Ian Butler broke the news to McKay on taking his first wicket in Napier that he'd been clocked at 147km/h.

"I'd never been radared before," the 29-year-old said yesterday." I didn't see the radar so I wasn't sure how fast I was bowling. I had bowled quicker spells for Wellington than at Napier."

The qualified physiotherapist, a former Takapuna and Howick-Pakuranga club player, spent six seasons with Auckland before looking for a change of scene and fortune and moving to Wellington for this summer.

An international career can hinge on small details. McKay recalled bowling two balls at Vettori when their teams met at Mt Maunganui last month, then had four overs in the return at the Basin Reserve soon after, when he took three wickets.

Clearly he made an impression on important eyes.

By that stage, Wellington's campaign was in tatters, McKay recalled, and he was given both the new ball and licence to hurry the batsmen up.

"So I was looking to use my bouncer and hit the pitch and bat hard," he said.

In those games Vettori saw something he liked.

McKay, whose first-class career began in the 2002-03 season, took 11 Twenty20 wickets at 22.63 and 11 wickets in the one-day competition at 20.63 this season.

Back to that pace. How does 150km/h sound?

"That would be fantastic, very nice," McKay said.

Vettori pointed out that McKay was "a pretty well rounded character who comes in, knows his role and gets on with it".

Another couple of decent performances against Bangladesh this week and suddenly his cricket future could look distinctly different from a week ago.