Win or lose today, it's been a cracking good season

Cricket: Win or lose today, it's been a cracking good season

Otago cricket batsman Neil Broom raises his bat as he scores 100 runs against Wellington at the University Oval earlier in the year.Photo by Peter McIntosh.

Otago is determined to complete the summer on a high with a win against Auckland in a one-day game at the University Oval today.

Win or lose, though, the team will be able to reflect on a magic season - perhaps its best since 1987-88, when Otago won both the one-day and first-class competitions.

The highlight, of course, was winning 10 consecutive twenty/20 matches to win the HRV Cup.

There was also a 12-game winning streak in the Plunket Shield, probably an Otago record, according to local statistician Dave Richmond. The Volts were in with a great chance of winning the shield and completing a rare double. Gunning for their 13th win in a row, they came unstuck on the last day against Wellington at the Basin Reserve. Chasing 200 for victory, they were bowled out for 145. It was a disappointing end but the only real blot on a tidy copybook.

The team had used up most of its energy reserves and struggled in the one-day tournament. With just one win from six completed matches, it has not been the finale the team was hoping for.

But, in a wider context, it is almost an acceptable failure, perhaps even predictable, given how much the team put into earlier campaigns.

Otago has perhaps relied on a few class players to pull through in the past and this team certainly had those types of players. But this season, everybody seemed to find a way to contribute.

There were some great stories. Opener Aaron Redmond rediscovered his touch in a big way.

He was the leading scorer in the Plunket Shield with 941 runs at an average of 55.35. Contrast that with the 157 runs at 14.27 he scored last summer and you begin to understand just how much he turned his performances around.

His first-class haul is the second-highest season tally for an Otago batsman. Otago great Glenn Turner holds the record with 1027 runs in 1975-76.

Fellow opener Hamish Rutherford supplied another feel-good story. In February last year, he was working in a coffee shop waiting for another opportunity to play first-class cricket for the province. Earlier this month, he scored 171 on test debut.

Black Caps fans everywhere are hoping he is a long-term answer to long-term problem at the top of the order.

Left-arm spinner Nick Beard was outstanding in the twenty/20 tournament and was the joint leading wicket-taker with young Otago fast bowler Jacob Duffy. The pair combined to take 30 wickets.

Beard also demonstrated his skills with the bat when he scored 188 after going in as a night watchman for Otago in a first-class game against Auckland.

Michael Bracewell (190) and Neil Broom (134) shared in an Otago record partnership for all wickets against Wellington of 291 runs. That stand formed the backbone of an Otago record total of 651.

Ian Butler, who at one stage had given up on the idea of playing test cricket again because of a serious back injury, was recalled to the test squad. And Neil Wagner, who had a tough introduction to test cricket, put in solid performances in the first two tests against England.

Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate was outstanding for Otago in the HRV Cup. He was the second-leading scorer in the competition with 401 runs at an average of 50.12. He also scored a century for Otago in his only first-class game for the province.

Fellow import James Fuller also made an impact with 13 twenty/20 wickets and he starred in a massive innings and 240-run win against Wellington, with 10 wickets in the match.