Cricket: Craig ready to make his mark for NZ

Black Caps bolter Mark Craig was yesterday enjoying life in Auckland where he is visiting his...
Black Caps bolter Mark Craig was yesterday enjoying life in Auckland where he is visiting his parents. The Otago offspinner has been selected to tour the West Indies in June. Photo by NZ Herald.

Five years ago, Otago spinner Mark Craig could barely get out of bed let alone rip a delivery past a batsman.

Yesterday he was wondering whether he will actually need to pack any pajamas when he tours the Caribbean with the Black Caps in June.

The 27-year-old right-arm off-spinner was one of two new caps named in the New Zealand test side. Wellington gloveman Luke Ronchi also got the nod.

Craig gets his opportunity after another Wellingtonian, Jeetan Patel, decided against touring the West Indies, citing a desire to focus on playing for his county side, Warwickshire, and spend time with his wife and baby daughter.

And former Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori was not considered because he was unable to get his bowling loads up to the required level.

So while Craig had some luck in getting selected, there is a good chance he will play with conditions expected to suit spin bowling. He was still digesting the news when contacted for comment yesterday.

''It hasn't really sunk in yet but obviously I was really delighted to get the call. I'm a pretty happy boy at the moment,'' he said.

Craig, who plays for Albion and represented the Dunedin club at the national club championships at Cornwall Park last week, decided to stayed on in Auckland to visit his parents.

He was watching television with them when national selector Bruce Edgar phoned with the news.

''I wasn't expecting it so soon. I had got a call two days prior saying I was going on the New Zealand A tour to England and to get the call again last night took me back a bit.''

Craig's ability to spin the ball away from all those left-handers in the West Indies batting line-up should result in his getting an opportunity to play at least one of the three scheduled tests.

It will be a remarkable turnaround for Craig. His cricket career was in limbo five years ago.

In 2009 he had forced his way into the Otago twenty20 side and had been named in the Volts 12 for the final against Canterbury.

The game was abandoned without a ball bowled but Craig probably would not have been able to take the field any way.

He had been feeling unwell for some time but that particular day he felt completely wiped out.

Shortly after the game was called off, he was taken to hospital and it was five months before he was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.

He spent nine months resting and about seven of those ''on the couch or in bed'', he told the Otago Daily Times in an interview in 2011.

The worst is behind Craig, although he tends to get sick a bit more than most people ''with the immune system being pretty shot.

''That sort of stuff is all but gone but I don't think I'm the same person I was before it. It certainly does not affect me doing anything now.

''That is the big thing. I'm not limited in what I can and can't do. I just need to make sure I'm eating well and getting exercise.''

Craig took 22 first-class wickets for Otago this summer at an average of 39.72.

He gives the ball and good tweak and every opportunity to turn by flighting the ball well.

Legspinner Ish Sodhi is the frontline spinner and Kane Williamson can be called on to bowl as well.

Former New Zealand spinner Paul Wiseman has been doing some work with Craig and believes he is a good prospect.

''I think he is a huge talent,'' Wiseman said.

''He is a traditional offspinner. He spins the ball, he gets it to drop, he gets it to drift and he gets it to bounce. He has all four elements there.

''He is still very young in terms of his experience at first-class level. But I think in good spinning conditions in the West Indies, with up to seven left-handers in the side, he could be a real threat to them.''

 


Black Caps
To tour West Indies

Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Mark Craig, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.


 

 

 

Add a Comment

OUTSTREAM