There was a summer when Aaron Redmond seemed to start every innings with a wonderfully timed drive down the ground.
As the ball raced away to the boundary, you would be left wondering how the elegant right-hander was able to do it.
The answer is he had been perfecting his signature shot since he was a child playing cricket in the driveway of the family home in Perth.
His father, New Zealand cricket folk hero Rodney Redmond, was down the other end giving encouragement as always.
But after 16 summers of first-class cricket, the former test opener is ready to move on.
Redmond (35) is married to an Englishwoman, Katie, and the couple have two children together. Noah is 4 and Jonah is just 12 weeks old. Katie also has a 13-year-old son, Christian.
The family has spread its time between New Zealand and the United Kingdom, which has not been easy.
''I've been taking my family to and fro from England to here and it has got to the point where I need to put family first,'' he said.
''We toyed with the idea of doing another season but I think I need a change, as well.''
The Otago captain is studying accountancy and will now be able to work fulltime towards his degree.
''I've got about two years of fulltime study ahead of me and that is what I'm looking to do - get across to England, settle my affairs here and emigrate.''
Redmond hopes to play club cricket when possible. He still loves the game but it is the people he will miss the most.
''It's probably that camaraderie on and off the field that I will miss. I will miss the cricket but I was sort of at that stage now where I've given it a good crack and I've got what I wanted out of it.
''The game has given me so much.''
He played his final game in Dunedin last week and the team formed a guard of honour when he went on to the field.
Telling his team-mates he planned to retire brought a lump to his throat and he expects to be a little emotional when his career wraps up at the end of the four-day game against Auckland, which gets under way at Colin Maiden Park today.
Redmond's up-and-down career was probably best highlighted by his surprise call-up for the tour of England in 2008, and then his axing later that year, when he had seemingly just began to find his feet.
His test debut was at Lord's and, while he made a five-ball duck, he ranks it as among his career highlights.
''One of the greatest times was going through that Long Room, going down the stairs and getting clapped on the way out to the middle.''
The gracious English crowd applauded his debut even when it ended in disappointment.
''It is something that has always lived in my memory. It is the only time in my career I got a standing ovation when I got out for a duck.''
Otago's twenty20 15-game winning-streak (2012-13) was also memorable and the province has won two twenty20 titles and a one-day title during Redmond's tenure.
The Plunket Shield, though, has remained elusive and that has bothered Redmond.
''One disappointment I've got is we have the opportunity to possibly win this Plunket Shield and that is something we've never been able to do.''
''It would be nice to finish on a high and somehow sneak in there, eh.''
Otago needs a minor miracle to farewell Redmond in that fashion.
The Volts are in fourth place with 92 points. Canterbury leads with 107 points but there is a maximum of 20 points available, so it is still possible, just not very likely.
Redmond's retirement will leave a gap at the top which will take some filling.
His record for the province stacks up favourably with some of Otago's very best players.
In 73 first-class for the province, he has scored 4750 runs at an average of 39.58, including 11 hundreds.
Only Craig Cumming (6589), Bert Sutcliffe (6028), Bruce Blair (5057) and Ken Rutherford (5051) have scored more runs for Otago, and only five players have scored more hundreds for the province.
Redmond is one of only three players to twice score back-to-back hundreds in a game for Otago.
The other two are Sutcliffe and Glenn Turner and they could bat a bit.
And Redmond's 2012-13 Otago season tally of 941 runs is second only to Turner's haul of 1027 runs in 1975-76.
A part-time leg-spinner, he has also taken 36 first-class wickets for Otago and is a sharp fieldsman.
He has taken 48 catches and most of them have been in the slips.
His presence in the dressing room will be sorely missed as well.
Renowned for his humour, Redmond is a popular team-mate whom Otago Cricket Association chief Ross Dykes described as a genuine character.
''His dry sense of humour, his perceptive knowledge of the game and the freedom with which he played made him a favourite at the University Oval,'' Dykes said.
''He respected the game and will be fondly remembered as one of the those key people who started the resurgence of the Otago Volts in domestic cricket.''
Yes he will.
Otago has named an unchanged 12.- Otago: Aaron Redmond (captain), Hamish Rutherford, Michael Bracewell, Ryan Duffy, Josh Finnie, Derek de Boorder, Roald Badenhorst, Neil Wagner, Craig Smith, Rhys Phillips, Jacob Duffy, Michael Rae.
Auckland: Jeet Raval, Anaru Kitchen, Carl Cachopa, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Robbie O'Donnell, Donovan Grobbelaar, Brad Cachopa, Tarun Nethula, Michael Bates (captain), Matt Quinn, Lockie Ferguson, Glenn Phillips, Brett Randell.
Aaron Redmond
Career record
Test: 8 games, 325 runs at 21.55 including two 50s, three wickets at 26.66
ODI: 6 games, 152 runs at 25.33 including one 50
International T20: 7 games, 126 runs at 21 including one 50, two wickets at 12
First-class: 128 games, 7203 runs at 34.30 including 15 100s, 109 wickets at 42.12
List A: 125 games, 2941 runs at 26.73 including three 100s, 23 wickets at 41.04
T20: 78 games, 1573 runs at 23.47 including one 100, 18 wickets at 24.66.
Otago first-class record: 73 games, 4750 runs at 39.58 including 11 100s, 36 wickets at 47.33
Source New Zealand Cricket. Cricinfo statistics differ slightly.
Aaron Redmond's final thoughts
Toughest opponents: Chris Martin was always a good challenge. The hairs on my back used to stand up whenever I faced Bondy [Shane Bond]
Favourite player: Someone I really looked up towhen I was younger was Dean Jones. He was all I wanted to be
Favourite innings: Probably that T20 hundred against CD [in 2008-09]. We chased more than 180 and the crowd ran in afterwards. It was amazing
Mentors: Dad gave me the opportunity andtraining all the way through the junior ranks. I've always looked up to him Mike Hesson helped groom and mould me into the player I am. He was hard at times but stuck with me. And I could even say Dykesy [Ross Dykes]. Seeing his leadership over the years, I think he has done an amazing job
Regrets: I wished I'd have taken my opportunity at international level but, on the flip side of that, I think everyone finds where they deserve to play and I was not good enough at the time
State of Otago cricket: For guys like MichaelBracewell, Hamish Rutherford and Derek [de Boorder] it is a prime time for them. Jake [Jacob Duffy] has been sensational this year. He is definitely going all right
