Jeremiah Shields is back.
The veteran cricketer reversed his retirement from Hawke Cup cricket this summer to strengthen North Otago’s top order batting.
Having initially retired from representative cricket at the beginning of 2023, Shields said losing weight had him feeling good enough to return.
"I just wanted to have another crack when I was feeling pretty good about my body.
"How I’ve been playing lately, I felt like I could do two days again.
"The desire is still there to score big runs if I can or bat long periods of time."
He was not far away from the game since retiring, having continued playing club cricket in North Otago and he even helped out with Hawke Cup selections on occasion.
Despite that, he admitted the gruelling nature of two-day cricket was tough in his first match back against Otago Country last month.
"It’s a different ball game up there, like I found out over in Central [Otago].
"Ninety overs in the field first up for the first one back was tough but I still love it."
Shields slotted in at No 3 in the batting lineup and scored a patient 22 off 52 balls.
"I think three is a pretty tough spot, about as tough as opening, really. So, having someone in there that’s experienced is pretty key.
"I’ve just got to come good and score some runs and bat some time," he said.
This weekend, North Otago will host South Canterbury in what will be Shields’ 57th Hawke Cup match — the 10th-most in appearances for the province — and he also sits at 16th on the run-scoring leaderboard with 1231.
He is in fine form at club level as well, having scored the most in runs in the Borton Cup with 260 at an average of 52 including a century and two fifties from just six innings.
TWO CHANGES
Co-coaches Glynn Cameron and Jordan Horrell have been forced to make two changes to the squad from the opening match.
Llew Johnson is on Volts duty amidst their Super Smash campaign and Stephan Grobler is unavailable due to work commitments.
Oamaru duo Luke Taylor and Quinn Wardle come in to replace them in the playing XI, with the former on debut.
Taylor was the leading run-scorer in the Borton Cup in the 2023-24 season and is second only to Shields in the first half of this season.
The match gets under way from 10.30am at Centennial Park in Oamaru tomorrow.
