Matt Horne walked away from first-class cricket in 2006 thinking he would go in another direction but constantly found himself taking the path back to the game.
It resulted today in the 42-year-old former New Zealand opener being appointed Auckland coach. He takes over from former Zimbabwe spinner Paul Strang, who held the position for four years before relinquishing the role in the belief the team needed a new voice guiding them.
Horne has been Auckland Cricket's network coach for the last four years and in that time guided both the Auckland A and under-19 sides to national titles. He was also New Zealand under-19 coach at the World Cup and had been in charge of Auckland for the last portion of the 2012/13 season when they won the Ford Trophy (Strang was assistant coach).
Horne played 35 tests and 50 one-day internationals for New Zealand between 1997 and 2003, finishing with a test average of 28.38 and four centuries and five half-centuries. He was a proven performer at domestic level but couldn't always translate that to the international game.
He retired from first-class cricket in 2006 when playing league cricket in Scotland.
"I had no idea what I was going to do," said Horne, who had done stints in a bank, in retail, as a groundsman and in gardening centres to help supplement his income when playing cricket.
"When I finished playing I definitely wanted to head in another direction but, with time, realised that cricket was a true passion and that I wanted to move into coaching.
"The cricket was constant. I was still playing club cricket, I was coaching in a capacity and then it was a matter of making sure I went through the right coaching pathway and credentials to make sure I was qualified. I have been very lucky with that by being able to coach in different parts of the world."
It has seen Horne go to India and South Africa with Auckland for their Champions League campaigns and he also went to Australia with the New Zealand under-19, development and A squads. He's also coached in the UK intermittently.
Horne understands he needs to develop as a coach but holds ambitions of one day taking over the New Zealand side.
"That would be the ultimate to be able to coach at international level," he said. "I know I have a long way to go for that to happen but at the moment my focus is very much on giving as much energy, passion and expertise to Auckland."
It's an Auckland side who still contain a handful of players Horne played with, which creates an interesting dynamic, and one that has enjoyed successes under Strang's watch.
They won the Ford Trophy one-day competition this season but finished last in the Plunket Shield and third in the HRV Cup Twenty20 competition.
Horne wants to improve the team's Plunket Shield fortunes and it's an area he will spend considerable time on when he officially starts in the role on June 1.
"We have a very strong, good core of players in terms of experience," he said. "In the longer term there might be some guys coming towards the end of their playing days so it's about being smart around investing in the right individuals longer term. At the same time I have been quite fortunate I have adopted a reasonably successful team."
