Better late than never
After more than four decades in the game, one Northland cricketer has achieved the goal of a lifetime
When Bert Horner first started playing cricket at 11, he dreamed of representing his country. Now, more than 40 years on, Horner will finally get that opportunity when he lines up for the New Zealand over-50s team at the over-50s Cricket World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, in March.
Horner, a current Maungakaramea premier team player, was selected for the national team after an inter-provincial tournament in Christchurch from October 24-28 where he played for Districts, a side made up of players across the North Island, apart from Wellington and Auckland.
Playing against teams from Auckland, Wellington-Tasman and CanterburyOtago, Districts finished last but that didn’t stop Horner, who was the second-highest run scorer across four games with a total of 180 runs and a high score of 79 not out.
The 52-year-old’s unbeaten knock of 79 also came against Wellington-Tasman, the eventual winners. From the tournament, a squad of 16 was selected to contest the World Cup and Horner was chosen as a wicketkeeper-batsman and the only Northlander in the team. “It’s a lifetime dream,” he said. “You grow up as a cricket lover, you always dream of putting a silver fern on your chest and listening to the national anthem. It still hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
The New Zealand over50s squad, which lost 2018’s over-50s World Cup semifinal to Australia needing a six from the final ball, will play seven, 45-over matches with a pink ball over 15 days against the likes of Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Canada and Sri Lanka.
After being shoulder-tapped by Northland Cricket Association general manager Stephen Cunis, Horner was first noticed on the national over-50s cricket scene when he scored his first century in about four years in a tournament warm-up game against Kaipaki Cricket Club this year.
“After [the century], I was feeling quite good about going down to the tournament against guys my own age and then everything just fell into place,” Horner said.
The Dargaville native, who will be 53 by the time the tournament starts, progressed through the Northland age group teams as a teenager before making the senior men’s side, playing alongside Northland cricket legends like Barry Cooper, Brian Dunning and Denis Lloyd. After a 23-year stint in England, where he played minor county cricket against the likes of former West Indian paceman Joel Garner, Horner returned to play for City Cricket Club before his current club of Maungakaramea. Horner, who is a self-employed builder, said it was great to finally reach the national level after more than four decades in the game, and felt it was his passion for cricket and regular training that kept him playing for so long.
“A lot of people have said to me, ‘why don’t you retire?’ and I turn around and say, ‘I’m still competing against these younger guys so why should I stop playing’,” he said. “I’ve vowed to myself, I’ll carry on playing the