MORE THAN a million hits already and there for the world to see well after the blokes go on to become granddads.
That's how many hits THAT catch from Bevan Small and Michael Mason has had on YouTube on the internet ... and still counting.
"Yes, we got a few hits, which is quite amazing because it's gone global. That's modern technology and how things go these days," former Black Caps seamer Mason says before today's must-win televised HRV Cup Twenty20 match for his Devon Hotel Central Districts Stags against the Auckland Aces at Colin Maiden Park Park, Auckland.
The Freyberg Cricket Club members from Palmerston North have become the centre of international attention after a piece of dazzling fielding that cannot be rehearsed in their eight-wicket loss to the Northern Districts Knights on January 6 in Mt Maunganui.
Substitute fielder Small, lurking on the boundary at cow's corner, made ground, caught the ball in one hand but as he hurtled over the rope, tossed the ball back to veteran Mason, advancing to back up his fielder, to dismiss Brad Wilson for 43 runs.
But that's where the razzamatazz ends for the Stags, who can avenge their loss to the ND at McLean Park, Napier, at 5pm this Saturday.
Mason, 37, and Small, who turns 20 next month, will give all that up in a heartbeat for CD to make this summer's cup final.
"Definitely, I'd settle for a few more hits off the tube," the older Stag says after the bowlers and batsmen have struggled to put on complete performances against oppositions to date.
In their last outing against the Canterbury Wizards at Mainpower Oval, in Rangiora, the CD batsmen, who crumbled against ND, delivered but it was the bowlers' turn for a meltdown as the hosts comfortably chased down a respectable total to leave the Stags' fate in the hands of other results provided they clinch all their three remaining matches.
"It's a pretty tough game but for the next three games we'll have to put it together if we are to make the final," Mason says, adding CD failed to perform as a unit in their last two games although he believes other teams have also had their bad patch to contend with.
CD are sitting in third place on the HRV Cup table, six points behind second-placed Wizards with the Aces setting the pace on 22 points after seven rounds.
"For us, from tomorrow [tonight], every game is like a final otherwise our campaign will be gone," says Mason, adding the changing room on Sunday was like a morgue with Stags "gutted and disappointed".
Mindful the Aces know how to win, he reassures fans CD have been there before so hopefully things will go their way tonight.
Reflecting on THAT catch, Mason reveals he "put in a Hollywood dive" when he lumbered around the park from long on to cow corner to grasp the ball from the 12th man's flick back before it touched the grass.
"Bevan did all the hard work. I gave him a call to let him know I was there but I'm not sure if he heard me or not," Mason says.
Was the veteran relieved a youthful Stag was performing the acrobatics?
"Oh, I'd give it a crack but I can't say I'd be as good as Bevan.
"Look, I'm so tall I wouldn't have had to jump that way," he says, cracking up before clarifying he just happen to be at the right place in the right time for some team work CD execute at training religiously.
For the record, Small isn't sure if he heard Mason but he certainly caught him from the corner of while suspended in catching motion.
"If I did hear him it all went by pretty quickly," says the youngster, who is trying to make the starting line up after returning from niggly side strain that has stymied his bowling for almost two years.
While happy the fielding has taken off on YouTube, Small prefers to take the euphoria in his stride.
"It's only a piece of fielding. I'd rather be at the bowling crease not carrying the drinks so I'm not getting carried away," he says, although he accepts his fame can earn him a T20 stint abroad.
A few lads from their Freyberg club had sent him text messages delighted both of them had done their club proud and put them under the international spotlight.
"There's been a few jokes about Mase putting in a bit of a dive at the end," he says after showing CD coach Alan Hunt and fellow selectors Scott Briasco and Gary Cunningham he is in good nick with two four-wicket hauls during the week-long New Zealand Provincial A Tournament for CD A at Christchurch last week.
The frustration with the side injury restricting the right-arm fast/medium bowler from hitting the deck with venom may prompt him to opt for surgery after this summer. "I recently had a few injections and scans, but it's still restricting me from bowling at full pace like I did two years ago," he says, adding he's rolling his arm in the 90-plus per cent mark.
"There's pain there but I'm doing all right after taking four wickets in both games at the As so I'm happy with how the ball is coming out."
Like a sniffer dog with a leash around its neck, Small thoroughly enjoyed getting on the park last Sunday and is keen to make the starting XI before the cup campaign ends after proving himself at tournaments and CD training camps.
"I'm just waiting for my time because we have a pretty settled eleven although we're not performing as well as we should be," he says.