Tearful Black Caps star: ‘I just want to hug my kids’
Dream debuts seem to come with regularity for Black Caps spinners these days, but that didn’t stop Will Somerville’s tears from flowing after spearheading a remarkable test series victory over Pakistan.
As Will Somerville walked off Sheikh Zayed Stadium, wide eyed and beaming after a remarkable test debut, it all hit him. Did this really happen?
‘‘It’s been many years of loving playing cricket and that dream of playing for New Zealand has always been there. The fact it’s been realised and the reality hit me when I came off the field and all the emotion came out,’’ he told the Sunday Star-Times from Abu Dhabi.
There were three other reasons, all sleeping back home in Auckland as father and husband lived his dream in the desert, helping spin New Zealand to a coveted series victory over Pakistan.
Wellington-born Somerville spent the past nine years in Sydney where he worked as a chartered accountant, toiled away in grade cricket and forced his way into Australian test contention on limited chances with New South Wales. But it wasn’t going to happen there. He shifted to Auckland with his Australian wife Eleanor, son Hugo, nearly 3, and daughter Zoe, nearly 1, three months ago to give his test cricket dream one last crack.
‘‘I thought about my family at home, I miss them and I just want to hug my kids. There were all sorts of emotions. We moved over which was a big sacrifice for my wife and a big move for the kids. It’s been a big three months and all moved pretty quickly.’’
Ironic, then, when Somerville had such a long wait from his first-class debut for Otago in 2005. This test was just his 19th first-class match, with his father’s wise words ringing in his ears: ‘‘Your career is a lesson in persistence’’.
As he conducted another interview from the dressing room, Australian Crawl’s Reckless wafted in the background. He’d hoped his trans-Tasman shift might yield a black cap in a couple of years, ‘‘near the end of my career’’. Not after just two first-class matches for his new team Auckland, when injury to Todd Astle saw him whistled up. After two tests on drinks duty he was handed his first cap in place of Ish Sodhi.
‘‘It happened a lot faster than I was expecting. I always hoped it would happen and my goals were to try and play test cricket. I felt really ready for it which was cool. It’s worked out pretty well.’’
Somerville said he was just happy to contribute to a historic win, and soak it up with his new mates, 49 years since New Zealand’s only other away series victory over Pakistan. He didn’t just contribute, the lanky offspinner was one of the Black Caps’ stars of their 123-run victory.
He faced 99 balls in a vital first innings stand with BJ Watling and snared 7-127, fourthbest match figures by a New Zealand test debutant. He was just pipped by new team-mate and fellow 30-something Ajaz Patel, who made his own stunning spin debut at the same ground a fortnight earlier with 7-123.
Mark Craig (8-188 against West Indies in Kingston, 2014) and Colin de Grandhomme (7-64 against Pakistan in Christchurch, 2016) remain the top two.
So what now? After a big night of celebration, Somerville was looking forward to returning home today, getting those long-awaited hugs with his kids and preparing for Zoe’s first birthday.
There’s also another test, against Sri Lanka in his home town Wellington on Saturday. It seems unfair but Somerville and Patel are no chance of continuing their spin partnership on what will be a pace-friendly pitch. It will be one or the other, a tough choice for coach Gary Stead and captain Kane Williamson.
Somerville will be hard to leave out on his all-round contribution, not that he was setting his sights too high. ‘‘I want to keep playing test cricket if I can but I’m not sure what the plans are. I’m expecting to go back and play for Auckland at Eden Park against Northern Districts but we’ll have to wait and see.’’