Cricket: When love bug strikes them in the deep south

Cupid could be the solution to Otago's sports player drain, says the province's cricket coach, Glenn Turner.

This season, Otago has lost the services of international cricketers Paul Wiseman (to Canterbury) plus Mark Richardson and Matt Horne (both to Auckland).

But Turner is confident he has figured out the reason for their departures.

"It's all to do with women," Turner said. "It's got nothing to do with facilities, or whether you have got a good set-up or not. It's all to do with relationships."

Wiseman has made no secret that a desire to be closer to his partner was instrumental in his move to Christchurch.

It seems Horne also suffered from the love bug while in the south.

"Hornet [Horne] has always had his girlfriend in Auckland, and has family up there as well, so his move was always on the cards," Turner said.

He warns that the power of love can affect other sporting codes as well.

"It's happening in rugby, too, you know," Turner said, referring to All Black Pita Alatini, who is shifting to Wellington to join his wife and daughter.

Rather than sit around despondently waving goodbye to Otago's sporting stars, the ever-crafty Turner believes he has a solution.

"We're thinking we might have to take a leaf out of Middlemarch's book," he said.

Middlemarch put itself on the map at Easter when it attracted single women from around New Zealand to attend its singles dance, in a bid to pair off their lonesome men.

"Perhaps down here we need to supply the women in order to attract the players," Turner said.

On a serious note, the former New Zealand star batsman said he was not overly concerned with the players' departures.

"We worked out, for example, that if Mark Richardson stayed here, he could have only played three out of the 10 four-dayers anyway."

- NZPA