Yesterday it was impressive Canterbury right-armer Matt Henry reminding the national selectors he is chipping away at first-class level with tremendous success.
The 22-year-old added a fourth first-class five-wicket bag to his brag sheet, taking five for 67 in the Plunket Shield fixture against Otago at the University Oval.
His haul helped ensure Canterbury took an 80-run lead into its second innings. Otago was dismissed for 200 after Canterbury reached 280 on day one. At stumps, the visiting side was 180 for six with a lead of 260 and two days remaining in the match.
Henry had quite a day. He took a fantastic catch to remove Sam Wells, picked up the key wicket of Neil Broom and polished off the tail. Not bad for a player who is not bowling as well as he could, according to Canterbury coach Gary Stead.
''I don't think he bowled quite as well as he has, which is always encouraging when he picks up five because he can always improve,'' Stead said.
''But he is coming off back surgery last winter and had a pretty major operation, so this year is still about finding our way and making sure he gets through the season unscathed.''
Henry is playing in his 14th first-class game and has 55 wickets at an average of 21.70. It is an outstanding start to his career and Stead believes he will eventually get an opportunity in the national team.''
I have no doubts that he will be a Black Cap in the future. He's got a good temperament. He's got a fantastic work ethic and he looks after himself, really.''
Stead felt Henry's skills were best suited to the longest form of the game but would not rule out Henry playing limited-overs cricket at international level.''
He has an uncanny knack of nipping the ball about or swinging it just a touch. It only has to swing half a bat to actually take the edge. He also has the ability to swing it late and that makes him different.''
Otago resumed at 47 for two hoping to build a big first-innings lead. The Volts were perhaps guilty of playing too many shots and looked stuck in twenty20 mode.
But it took a terrific catch from Logan van Beek to remove Michael Bracewell. Initially, the fielder only managed to palm the ball behind him but spun around quickly to catch the rebound.
Nightwatchman Neil Wagner and top-order batsman Neil Broom barely troubled the scorers, leaving Otago teetering at 67 for five.
Derek de Boorder joined all-rounder Sam Wells at the crease and the pair helped stem the flow of wickets, adding 43. De Boorder contributed most of those. He looked in good touch but the partnership was broken when Wells mistimed a pull shot and Henry took a great catch at square leg. He had to run backwards and catch the ball over his shoulder.
Brad Rodden's (one) debut innings was short-lived but Mark Craig, who took a five-wicket bag on Thursday, formed a valuable partnership with de Boorder.
The pair added 77 for the eighth wicket to help reduce the deficit. When Craig nicked out, de Boorder did his best to nurse the tail through and got after the bowling when he could. He was stumped for 85 but not before helping his side reach 200.
Tom Latham made batting look easy. He plundered the boundary down the ground and made a delightful 52 before he walked past a delivery from Craig and was stumped. Craig perhaps saw him coming and speared the ball down the leg side.
At tea, Canterbury was 87 for three and the game was interestingly poised. Wells, who has bowled well all match and took two wickets before the break, trapped Shanan Stewart lbw for 13 as Otago kept chipping away at Canterbury's innings.
However, in a low-scoring game every run Canterbury eked out felt like it was worth twice as many.
Brad Cachopa added 25 and Rob Nicol grafted his way to an undefeated 42.
He will resume today with Todd Astle (nought) at the wicket with him.
