Shaun Scott was on his tractor, ploughing farmland, at Northburn Station, near Cromwell, when he received a telephone call from national selection convener Dave Edwards.
He was told of his selection in the New Zealand bowls team for the transtasman series against Australia in Invercargill next month.
It will be his first test.
"I'm over the moon," Scott said yesterday.
"It is a dream come true for me."
Scott (45), a Cromwell fencing and paving contractor, first held the dream at the age of 15 when his father played for New Zealand against Australia in 1980.
When he was told the news yesterday, he immediately telephoned his uncle, Bill, and aunt, Noeleen, who also played bowls for New Zealand.
Shaun Scott is the sixth member of the Scott family to play for his country.
Cousins Terry and Jim are also former internationals.
It was an emotional time when he told his mentor, Graeme Stewart, the news.
"Dad took him into his team when he was a young bowler and Graeme did the same for me," Scott said.
Scott knocked loudly on the selectors' door when he won the singles title at the New Zealand championships in Dunedin and followed it up by finishing runner-up in the fours.
He backed this up by winning the Burnside pairs in Christchurch with Greg Ruaporo.
Scott also helped North East Valley win the regional final of the interclub sevens last weekend.
He has lifted his game to a new level this year and he credits this to the instruction he has received from the New Zealand Academy of Sport.
"I used to get very nervous before games and they taught me to be more relaxed and put no pressure on myself," he said.
"I used to have too much anxiety."
Scott celebrated the news by having a couple of beers and a bottle of bubbly with wife Penny and his best man, Mark Coleman.
Scott will play second in the triples and second in the four.
Sydney-based Matt Gallop, the other newcomer in the men's team, earned selection after playing a significant role in the winning fours team and finishing runner-up in the pairs at the national championships.
He is lead in the pairs and fours.
Ali Forsyth, the singles player at last year's Commonwealth Games, will skip the triples and four.
Missing from the New Delhi Commonwealth Games team are Richard Collett and Dan Delany, while Andrew Todd has made himself unavailable for the 2011 season.
The selectors have gone largely with form from the recent national open championships, where Scott, Forsyth and Gallop stood out.
The return of World Bowls pairs champion Jo Edwards will strengthen the women's team.
She will skip the four and the pairs with fellow World Bowls champion Val Smith.
New Delhi competitors Manu Timoti, Dale Lang and Karen Coombe have been dropped.
Dunedin bowler Mark Watt has been named in the under-25 team and Lanah Craik (Waitaki Girls') is in the under-18 team for the transtasman series in Adelaide from April 9-11.
The senior men's and women's events will be held at the Waihopai club, in Invercargill, from March 9-11.
