Rusty Read eyes runs in Black Clash
All Blacks captain Kieran Read is already planning cricket throwdowns after his side’s end of year northern rugby tour.
Read will be reunited with his first sporting love on January 25 at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval when he features in a new crosscodes Black Clash Twenty20 match.
Team Rugby, captained by Read and coached by Graham Henry, will attempt to upset Team Cricket, captained by former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming. They will also be headlined by fellow ex-black Caps skipper and belligerent batsman Brendon Mccullum.
Further player announcements will be made over coming weeks.
The T20 clash of the codes concept – conceived by Fleming and Duco Events director David Higgins – was unveiled in Christchurch yesterday.
Read, who was an outstanding batting talent in his youth, conceded it had been a long time since he last donned pads in a competitive match.
Aside from the odd cameo in the Crusaders’ annual cystic fibrosis charity game, Read hadn’t been bombarded by inswinging yorkers since 10 years ago.
‘‘I’m going to be a bit nervous, to be honest,’’ Read said.
‘‘You lose your hand-eye [coordination] pretty quick in this game. I’ll have to get out and hit a few balls to get my eye back in.’’
Growing up in Papakura, Read balanced cricket and rugby. He was a promising top order righthand batsman, debuting for the Karaka premier team in Counties club cricket when he was 13.
Read notched several senior centuries for the club and revealed he achieved a careerbest knock of 190 in a two-day match when he was 17, opening with former Central Districts first-class player David Kelly.
‘‘That’s the closest I’ve got to 200. I was gutted I got out.
‘‘Playing against grown-ups really hones your game and probably helped my rugby as well playing against older men.’’
Read played age-group representative cricket for Northern Districts, playing alongside future New Zealand internationals BJ Watling, Daniel Flynn and Anton Devcich.
He was set to attend the under19 nationals for ND, but an ACL knee injury prevented him from attending and he opted to go down the the rugby path.
Read’s Team Rugby are expected to include the Barrett brothers, Beauden and Jordie, who he believed would cause plenty of trouble for their more fancied rivals.
The Barretts excelled in cricket, with Jordie playing Hawke Cup representative level for Taranaki and once being 12th man for Central Districts’ domestic side.
Fresh off four tries and a 30-point haul against Australia at Eden Park on Saturday night, Read tipped Beauden to shine.
Read and coach Henry, himself a former first-class wicketkeeper for Canterbury and Otago, were already looking at options to bolster their lineup.
Top of their wish list is former Crusaders and All Blacks halfback Andy Ellis and Tasman rugby coach Leon Macdonald, who helped Marlborough win a Hawke Cup as recently as 2011.
The fight for former dual All Black and Black Cap Jeff Wilson’s signature is expected to be a fierce one between the two camps.
Duco – best known as boxing heavyweight Joseph Parker’s promoters – have been involved in sporting events such as the NRL Auckland Nines and the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens.
The event will deliver $100,000 into welfare funds run by New Zealand’s rugby and cricket player associations.