BRENDON EGAN
Belting cricket balls on rooftops surrounded by Hong Kong high-risers was Mark Chapman’s unorthodox introduction to the sport.
The drums are beating for a Black Caps Twenty20 call-up for the Auckland Aces 23-year-old, one of the most in-form white-ball batsmen in domestic cricket.
Chapman debuted for Hong Kong as a 16-year-old while boarding at Auckland’s King’s College, but has always aspired to represent New Zealand, courtesy of his dual citizenship.
He is putting pressure on Anaru Kitchen in the T20 squad and could be in line for a first Black Caps appearance in the three-match series against Pakistan, starting on January 22 in Wellington.
Kitchen, the 33-year-old Otago veteran, failed to impress during the T20s against the West Indies, amassing just 22 runs from three innings, while taking a wicket with his left-arm spin.
Coach Mike Hesson and chief selector Gavin Larsen must be curious to see what Chapman, who would be an option at either No 4 or five, can do against Pakistan ahead of February’s T20 tri-series against Australia and England.
Chapman has put forward a compelling argument, hitting 295 runs from seven innings at 42 with a strike rate of 178 for the Aces in the T20 Super Smash, the secondhighest runs behind Northern Knights’ Tim Seifert.
The powerful left-hander has been consistent, notching two 50s and 101 from 58 balls against Canterbury at Hagley Oval during the competition.
In the 50-over Ford Trophy, he is also the second-to-top runscorer, with 204 from three innings with a highest score of 125 not out.
Chapman’s cricket journey has been unusual. He was born in densely populated Hong Kong, a territory of more than seven million people in an area of just 2754 square kilometres.
His Kiwi father, Peter, was a crown prosecutor for the Hong Kong government, while his Chinese mother, Anne, worked in the financial sector.
‘‘I’m pretty lucky I’ve got a couple of passports. I can play for Hong Kong tomorrow and the Black Caps the next day theoretically.’’
Cricket captivated Chapman early, and he headed along to the Hong Kong Cricket Club with his dad to watch senior games and play in the nets for hours.
Given his New Zealand links, he regularly watched the Black Caps on TV and marvelled at fellow left-handers Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori.
‘‘I definitely did support New Zealand when I was all the way in Hong Kong. I definitely watched Stephen Fleming with a keen eye.
‘‘Obviously, the way he went about his business was pretty successful. It was quite nice to model yourself on someone like that.’’
While many weekend warriors in New Zealand take competing at expansive cricket grounds for granted, Chapman’s schoolboy experiences were radically different.
Due to Hong Kong’s tightly congested cityscape, he would train on enclosed rooftop facilities with artificial pitches among the giant skyscrapers.
‘‘Some people say it’s a concrete jungle. I guess it’s just normal, like in New Zealand it’s normal to have the luxury of wide open spaces and a lot of greenery. As a kid it was pretty normal for me to be playing in smaller grounds on astroturf pitches.’’
Chapman moved to New Zealand when he was 13 to attend King’s and broke into the First XI in Year 10 as a left-arm spinner who batted at 10.
It wasn’t long before he transferred to the middle order, then flourished in his now-customary top-order role.
He often travelled to represent Hong Kong in associate-nation tournaments, and was a crucial member of their side, which narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time.
Hong Kong will attend a qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in March for the 2019 World Cup, where the top two sides progress. Chapman is unsure if he will be available, with Auckland, where he is in his third season, his priority.
Chapman heard his name bandied about for the Black Caps T20 side last summer, but wasn’t picked. This season he’s tried to drown out those thoughts and concentrate on dominating domestically.
‘‘It’s something I’ve dreamed of ever since I was a young man watching the Black Caps. It would be pretty special if I did get the call, but I’m trying to not get too far ahead of myself and focusing on playing for Auckland and doing really well. Hopefully, as a result of scoring a few runs the opportunities might come.’’
Auckland coach Mark O’Donnell attributed Chapman’s standout summer to his time in the New Zealand Cricket winter training squad and increased opportunities in the top order with Colin Munro, Martin Guptill and Glenn Phillips missing matches with Black Caps commitments.
O’Donnell believed Chapman was ‘‘knocking it down’’ when quizzed how far off the national T20 squad he was.
A useful left-arm spinner, Chapman has bowled just one over in this season’s T20, with Auckland favouring two frontline tweakers. He was continuing to work hard on his bowling at training and hadn’t ‘‘parked’’ it.
Chapman is always eager to pick the brains of belligerent Black Caps limited-overs opening duo Guptill and Munro whenever they are involved with the Aces.
Their main message was to trust his game and not overcomplicate it out in the middle. ‘‘T20 is a pretty fickle game and you can score 100 one day, then get out for a golden duck the next. It’s hard and fast and it can go by pretty quickly.’’