‘Right time’ for Drew to pull stumps
| Published date | 05 April 2024 |
| Publication title | Oamaru Mail |
The 47-year-old said it was time to hang it up ‘‘probably even last year’’.
‘‘People kept saying I’ll play another 20 years and I said no way.
‘‘It takes too long to recover these days and plus I just like hanging out with my son. He’s in that SIPST [South Island Primary Schools Tournament] team and I enjoy umpiring him, coaching him, so it’s the right time.’’
His son, Jonty, 11, has been playing in the Youth Blast competition that starts at 10am so Drew would have to miss half of his game as he headed away to play himself.
‘‘I’d umpire half the game and then it’s like, ‘oh I have to go senior cricket now’. It got to the point where I was like ‘nah, I’d rather stay and hang out with you guys’.’’
Despite his body needing more time to recover, Drew was still one of the premier players in North Otago, right up until his final match.
He was awarded the Community Outstanding Individual Performance award at the Otago Cricket Awards earlier this week for his match against St Kevin’s College in December.
Drew scored 100 with the bat and took six for 16 with the ball.
Aside from all the accolades and accomplishments, Drew just played for the love of the game.
‘‘The first thing you play for is just the fun and the enjoyment and the friendships you make along the way. The success is just a bit of a bonus, isn’t it?’’
He is one of 32 North Otago men to have played for the Otago Volts.
Drew made his debut in 2001 with the timing of that match coinciding with another special date.
‘‘I was called in and it was a week before my wedding so I had to ask my wife [Ange], to make sure she was OK with me leaving and I think I got back probably three days before my wedding.’’
He played another three first-class games including against a touring England XI that featured the likes of Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick and a young Andrew Flintoff.
‘‘I went from facing Ricky Whyte to bloody Andrew Caddick. That’s what I went from, just club cricket here to over in Queenstown [against England]. It was a big step up, holy moley.’’
He made his Hawke Cup debut...
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