Call-up ‘out of the blue’ for veteran batsman
Fifteen months ago, Neil Broom resigned himself to the fact his days of playing for the New Zealand cricket team were done.
It had been almost two years since the last game for his country and, assisted by the British passport he holds via his English-born father, the Christchurch-born batsman signed a two-year deal with county side Derbyshire.
One can understand, then, how Broom had no clue what was coming next when Black Caps coach Mike Hesson pulled him aside after visiting the Otago team for a chat on Wednesday.
‘‘It came straight out of the blue,’’ the 33-year-old said following his surprise call-up to the Kiwi one-day squad for the looming three-match home series against Bangladesh.
‘‘Mike asked if I was keen to play for New Zealand again and I said was keen as mustard.
‘‘I’m pretty pumped up about it. I thought my New Zealand dreams were over when I signed for Derby. To be playing international cricket again, or be in the squad anyway, is pretty surreal.’’
Broom looks highly likely to not only play his first ODI in nearly seven years but also make an home-town international return in the series opener on Boxing Day.
He adds experience to a batting unit which largely failed to deliver in this month’s 3-0 defeat in Australia and New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said Broom ‘‘obviously fills the No 4 role’’ normally held by Ross Taylor, who is recovering from eye surgery.
Along with his age and 33 international caps, Larsen pointed to Broom being the top run-scorer and averaging 84.66 in last season’s domestic one-day competition for Otago as a reason for the selection.
The numbers aren’t all in his favour, given he averaged just 17.5 with a top score of 71 from 22 ODIS between January, 2009 and March, 2010.
Broom, though, was not fazed by those figures, and had an emphatic response when asked if he was taking a nothing to lose approach to the lifeline his international career had received.
‘‘Definitely,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m only looking at the series against Bangladesh and I’ll just play each game like it’s my last. I’m going to enjoy every minute I’m out there and really try and stamp my mark on the team.