Horner proud to win spot

highest level of cricket I can until I can’t contribute to that level any more.

“But at the moment, I’m seeing the ball well and not letting myself or my teammates down.”

Horner said his most special moment in cricket came about eight years ago when he was asked to play for Northland’s senior men’s team about two weeks after the death of his father.

The strong wicketkeeper-batsman went on to score a half-century against Counties Manukau and had an emotional celebration with his cricket-loving father in his thoughts as he raised his bat towards the Cobham Oval clubrooms.

“It’s just the honour of playing for Northland which means more to me than anything else.

“I’d chop my right arm off to play for Northland again,” he said.

Despite facing a $5500 bill to pay for his trip to South Africa, Horner said he was beyond excited to take part in a world cup and he hoped he would do Northland proud.

“The biggest thing for me is to do well for the side and get through to the final and play at Newlands [cricket ground], and obviously scoring a 100 in the final at the World Cup would be awesome.”

Horner said he was thankful for the help given by Northland Cricket general manager Cunis and Maungakaramea premier team captain/coach Neal Parlane in aiding his journey to selection.

New Zealand’s over-50s cricket director Jim Morrison, who was a selector for the national team, said Horner was a great addition to the team, which was looking to go two steps further than their result in 2018.

“Volume of runs is obviously important and [Horner] is still playing at a good level in Northland and he’s seemed really

You grow up as a cricket lover, you always dream of putting on a silver fern on your chest and listening to national anthem, it still hasn’t really sunk in yet. Bert Horner

determined to do well in the tournament, you can tell it meant a lot to him,” he said.

“As for next year, we are going there to win it.

“We think we’ve got a strong enough side, there’ll be some good sides, but as a team we will be good enough to compete with anybody.”

Photos / John Stone Bert Horner will be using as much of his free time as he can to train ahead of the World Cup in Cape Town.

Unbeaten scores of 79 and 59 in the tournament in Christchurch show Horner's commitment to keeping his wicket and batting a long innings.