The 30-year-old teacher figured he had three or four seasons left in him but everything changed in one seemingly innocuous moment last summer.
The dashing right-hander was playing in a game for his club side, Albion, and was setting off for a run when he felt a twinge in his back.
A few overs later he was walking off Culling Park. He had damaged a disc in his lower back and had no idea then that his career was over.
"Initially, in my mind, I was taking two or three months off and the hope was to be back playing cricket by Christmas," Haig said.
"But it just didn't settle down at all and it got to the end of the season and I was not sure what I was going to do. Even with winter off as well, the injury just didn't calm down and it's an ongoing thing unfortunately.
"Common sense said I had to make a call and that was where it finished. The decision was made for me, really."
Haig played 34 first-class games for Otago and fashioned a reasonable record, scoring 1606 runs at shade over 30. He was an aggressive batsman by nature who loved nothing more than getting on to the front foot and thrashing drives through the covers or point.
His defensive technique did not always have a lot of substance and he struggled to apply himself at the crease. But when conditions suited, he was certainly capable of playing some punishing innings and scored four centuries and six 50s.
Rather than give up on the sport, he decided he would try umpiring and flicked off a text message to the president of the Dunedin Umpires and Scorers Association John Henderson.
And almost as quickly as one his drives would speed to the boundary, Haig was suddenly committed and will make his umpiring debut this weekend, in the opening round of club cricket.
"As a player I was just focused on scoring runs and was happy for the umpires to take care of the nitty-gritty. But there are certainly a few things in the laws that I wasn't fully aware of when I cast my eye over them. There has been a lot of learning to do in the last few months."
Haig has been assigned the North East Valley-Taieri fixture at Memorial Park and is lucky enough to have a former Otago team-mate and international umpire Chris Gaffaney standing at the other end.
"Having played with and against most of the guys in the last few years it will certainly be a challenge. I'm going into it with a mindset of I'm there to be an umpire and, hopefully, all those other things will be taken out of the equation and I can just umpire as I see it in front of me."
You need a rhino skin as an umpire and Haig has braced himself for the inevitable criticism.
"You are accountable for the decisions you make and there will obviously be a few who will try and wind me up. But that is all part of the challenge I'm looking forward to.
"If I cope much flak, I think it will be good-natured. I think the spirit in Dunedin club cricket as a player was always pretty positive."
At a glance
• First-class record: 34 games, 1606 runs at 30.30, including four centuries and six 50s, 25 catches
• Domestic one-day record: 24 games, 558 runs at 25.36, including four 50s, 10 catches, 1 stumping
• Domestic twenty/20 record: 1 game, dismissed without scoring
