Cricket: Old masters return

There were times when Shane Thomson doubted he would pick up a cricket bat again.

The last 12 months of his time in the Black Caps under coach Glenn Turner were so unhappy he fell out of love with the game.

"Those last 12 months really soured it for me. I didn't enjoy it. I'm sure I won't be on his Christmas card list as he's not on mine.

"The only reason I played that last year was because of my dad. He wouldn't have said anything but I knew he would be really disappointed if I had given up.

"In the end I wrote him a letter to say that I wasn't enjoying cricket any more. He was pretty emotional about it but I think he appreciated it. He's kept the letter."

It might hearten Thomson's dad, then, to see his son back out in the middle.

Next weekend, the 40-year-old will join former international and first-class players at the Mercure Masters tournament in Queenstown.

Only Canterbury won't be represented - a Central Otago selection will take their place - and there are a host of recognisable names. Along with Thomson, Ewen Chatfield, Trevor Franklin and Dipak Patel will play, as well as Barry Cooper and Kerry Walmsley.

Some are fresh out of first-class cricket. Others, well, are happy to escape uninjured.

It's an initiative the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association are trying to keep past players involved. Business development manager Glen Sulzberger, who played three one-day internationals, said broadcasters were looking at the concept of masters cricket in the same way tennis and golf had become popular.

A recent "international" was held between New Zealand and Australia before the Twenty20 match in Wellington between the Black Caps and India.

Thomson played in that game, saying he bowled a few "loopy" off-spinners with the sole purpose of keeping Australia in the game and making it interesting.

"I think the concept has legs," he says. "The next step is to get players who have just finished playing into the game, like Chris Cairns and Stephen Fleming, so it is still competitive and worth watching on TV. I would watch it."

Games are played under a Twenty20 format, unknown in 1996 when Thomson drifted away from the game.

He had just returned from the World Cup and a series in the West Indies when he was omitted from Turner's winter training squad. Turner was sacked soon after to be replaced by Steve Rixon, an individual his former team-mates said Thomson would have enjoyed playing under.

"Back then, we were semi-amateur cricketers," Thomson says. "It was an OK living but you really had to love it and I wasn't enjoying it, so I jumped on a plane and took an opportunity to do something else."

That something involved working in Belgium with a handful of fellow Kiwis including top equestrian Bruce Goodin, training horses for export mainly to America.

Thomson then lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years where he did some cricket coaching.

He returned home in 2003 and settled in Taupo, where he runs a business maintaining holiday homes.

"My next door neighbour has a young son, who I helped out with some coaching, and I got roped in to play business house cricket," Thomson says. "I play mainly for the sausage and beer at the end of it but I open the batting with the son.

"I also bowl a bit. The other day a guy came out with a broken hand and smacked me for six one-handed, so that shows where I'm at."

The Mercure Masters takes place at the Queenstown Events Centre on April 18-19.


SHANE ALEXANDER THOMSON

Age: 40

Batting
* Tests: 19 - 958 runs @ 30.90
* ODIs: 56 - 964 @ 22.95 (SR: 67.55)

Bowling
* Tests: 19 wickets @ 50.15
* ODIs: 42 wickets @ 38.14 (econ rate 4.53)

Thomson is best known for his 120 not out in a chase to beat Pakistan in Christchurch in 1993-94.

He and Bryan Young put on a 154-run partnership to help New Zealand chase down a winning target of 324 runs.

It is still the highest fourth-innings total by the Black Caps to win a match.