Cricket is a bit like your nana when she has gone too hard on the sherry.
It is a little bonkers, and so is she. You don’t bother trying to understand — you just smile and nod.
And there was a lot of smiling and nodding in the past month.
Otago rescued their entire summer with a late bid to win the Plunket Shield. They
posted three consecutive wins and finished in a tie for first place with Canterbury.
Their neighbours collected the title courtesy of having a superior net runs per wicket.
It has now been 13,982 days since Otago won the competition. That is 38 years and change.
To get so close was a testament to the character of the side. And that is what coach Josh Tasman-Jones was referring to when he spoke about having a ‘‘beautiful foundation’’ to build on in the years ahead.
He has a strong group of quality young players who are years away from playing their best cricket.
Tasman-Jones will have to walk a tightrope between giving them enough opportunities to flourish and protecting them from a fickle, cruel game that can turn on you without warning.
If he gets that right, he has a bunch of future champions.
Thomas O’Connor is the first name that comes to mind there.
The 21-year-old left armer emerged from the fringes of the side and played a starring role in the final three weeks of the season. He had not played a lot of cricket before that.
O’Connor — the son of former New Zealand international Shayne — got a couple of first-class games late last season and played three list A games this season.
He also got a run for the New Zealand XI against the touring West Indian side and took three for 38 in a first-class game against Canterbury in late February-early March.
O’Connor had done well enough. But there was nothing to suggest he was about to transform into a mob hitman.
He went on a killing spree at Eden Park Outer Oval — snuffing out innings after innings.
His haul of 13 wickets for 85 ranks as the best spell of seam bowling in the competition in close to 30 years.
It sparked a three-game winning streak for Otago.
O’Connor finished the campaign with 27 wickets at an average of 14.40.
Only three players took more wickets and they all bowled at least twice as many deliveries.
He was not the only young Otago player to have a breakthrough season.
Opener Jacob Cumming realised some of his potential.
The talented left-hander had struggled to convert starts into bigger scores at the top level. But the 22-year-old shone this summer, notching 511 runs at an average of 42.58 and posting a maiden century.
Tom Jones (19) started his first-class career with a sparkling hundred, and he possesses rare talent.
That trio form just the tip of the spear.
Jamal Todd, 22, Zac Cumming, 20, Toby Hart, 22, Mason Clarke, 19, Harry Sixton, 19, and Hugo Bogue, 18, are all under 23 and have a lot of cricket ahead.
The fact Max Chu, 26, Luke Georgeson, 26, Jarrod McKay, 25, Thorn Parkes, 25, and Ben Lockrose, 26, are relative veterans just highlights the youth of this Otago team.
Chu had an outstanding first-class campaign with the bat, scoring 585 runs at an average of 53.18. He also made 40 dismissals — the most by any keeper by a long way.
Georgeson struck an unbeaten century to guide the Volts to a four-wicket win in their game against Wellington this week.
That innings highlighted how valuable he has become in the Volts line-up.
The skipper finished with 455 runs at an average of 56.87 and took 20 wickets at 33.15.
The strong finish to the Plunket Shield did paper over some cracks, though.
Otago had arguably their worst one-day campaign — ever. They lost all seven completed games.
They had a mediocre Super Smash as well.
The Plunket Shield run wiped almost all memory of those two events.
All that remains are treasured glimpses of a young star being born — O’Connor — and Chu’s consistently excellent form with the bat and gloves.
He was Otago’s leading scorer in all three formats and is at the heart of Tasman-Jones’ ‘‘beautiful foundation’’.
Otago Volts
Leading contributors
Batting: Max Chu scored 1074 runs across the three formats.
Bowling: Jarrod McKay did not feature in the T20 competition, but snaffled 36 wickets across the other two formats.
Breakthrough performance: Thomas O’Connor emerged from the fringes of the side to snaffle 27 first-class wickets in four games.
