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Sports correspondent & historian with |
The drawn first cricket test between New Zealand and the West Indies last weekend ensured that the three-match series would be decided at the Bay Oval.
Test two, at the Basin Reserve this week, would give the victors one hand on the Tegel test series trophy that will be presented at the conclusion of the Bay Oval decider on Thursday, December 18.
There will be plenty of attention paid to world cricket superstar Kane Williamson, who is one of six homegrown Bay of Plenty Black Caps.
Williamson, along with Trent Boult, Daniel Flynn and Graeme Aldridge, attracted plenty of headlines with their New Zealand selection.
Their feats with bat and ball coincided with the development of the Bay Oval from a wasteland to today’s international cricket ground.
Not so well remembered today are the achievements of two Te Puke brothers who were the first Bay of Plenty-born players to wear the New Zealand uniform.
Mathew and Robert (Robbie) Hart cut their teeth in junior cricket at the Te Puke Cricket Club, when New Zealand test stars Lance Cairns and the late Andy Roberts wore the Te Puke uniform in the 1980s.
Long-time New Zealand coaching manager John Howell, who would go on to operate the Howell Cricket Academy on the outskirts of Tauranga, recalled his first meetings with the Hart brothers in Caught Wright Bowled Beard – The History of Bay of Plenty Cricket.
“I first met Matthew Hart in the late 1980s, when he was selected for the first NZC [New Zealand Cricket] Development Squad,” Howell said.
“Matthew was always a tough character. He may have been quiet off the field, but on the paddock, he was competitive.
“Robbie arrived on the scene as Matthew was starting to make his mark. The New Zealand age-group selectors had heard of his considerable wicketkeeping skills and it wasn’t long before he followed in the footsteps of his brother. He was very agile for his height and had a great pair of hands.
“Like his older brother, Robbie went on to forge a long and successful first-class career. Liked by all, he was unobtrusive, not flamboyant, but extremely tough mentally. He could stand all types of pressure and was an excellent captain. Beneath the quiet exterior, there was [a] man of steel.”
By the mid 1990s, Mathew Hart had developed into a genuine spin bowler who was also more than handy with the bat.
Mathew Hart earned New Zealand test cap number 187 when he was selected to face Pakistan at Wellington on February 17, 1994.
Fourteen test appearances produced 29 wickets with best figures of five wickets at a cost of 77 runs.
Some 353 runs at a average of 17.64 told the tale of a more than useful lower-order batter.
In addition, Mathew played 13 (One-Day Internationals (ODIs), taking 13 wickets and posting his best international bowling figures of five wickets for 22 runs.
Robbie Hart had to wait for Adam Parore’s retirement before picking up the wicketkeepers’ gloves.
Like his brother, his debut came against Pakistan, in the first of his two ODI appearances on April 21, 2002.
His ODI games were just the entrée to a 13-match test career that stretched through 2002 and 2003.
Wearing New Zealand test cap number 220, Robbie Hart had outstanding success behind the stumps, effecting 29 catches and one stumping.
His hit-outs with his wooden weapon produced 260 runs at a average of 16.25, with a best of 57 not out.
In another 30 years, it will be interesting to review whether later Bay of Plenty Black Caps can match the six selected in the last three decades.