It has been 18 years since New Zealand cricket fans have had a chance to chant the name Rutherford.
The wait is over. Hamish Rutherford has been named in the Black Caps twenty/20 side, and celebrated with a century for Otago in a Plunket Shield game against Northern Districts at the Queenstown Events Centre yesterday.
The 23-year-old whacked 162 from 187 deliveries and later told the Otago Daily Times his elevation to the national side had not sunk in yet.
''I'm definitely excited about it but I have not had a chance to think about it, to be honest,'' he said.
''We are still in the middle of this game and it is really important for us.''
Hamish had spoken to his mother, Karen, but had not had a chance to talk to his father, Ken.
Ken Rutherford was a popular figure within New Zealand cricket. He played 56 tests, scoring 2465 runs at an average of 27.08. A dashing middle-order batsman, Ken recovered from a torrid beginning to his international career to establish himself as a regular in the team.
Hamish does not yet possess the wide array of shots his father had in his armoury but the desire to smash the ball runs in the family.
The left-hander hits the ball down the ground and peppers the point and boundary with monotonous ease. It does not seem to matter how many fielders are in the off side; if there is a gap, he will find it. In March 2012, he scored 607 runs, including back-to-back hundreds and a double hundred.
Importantly, he gets his runs at an impressive clip and it is exciting to watch. He is able to generate a strike rate from the moment he gets to the crease and in twenty/20 that skill is invaluable,Hamish will be joined in the Black Caps twenty/20 squad by Otago team-mate Ian Butler, who has been recalled after a two-year absence.
Butler has been in fine form this season and claimed his fourth first-class five-wicket bag on Thursday when he took six for 65 in Northern Districts' first innings.
The McCullum brothers, Brendon and Nathan, have been named in both the twenty/20 and one-day sides.
