Aldridge seams on top of game

In an attack that at times boasts quality quickies Daryl Tuffey, Ian Butler and Joseph Yovich, it's easy to be forgotten but that's definitely not the case for Bay of Plenty seamer Graeme Aldridge.
After years on the fringe, the Bay of Plenty representative is a contracted player for the Northern Knights squad and he looks the form bowler heading into next week's opening State Championship four-day match against Auckland's Aces in Hamilton.
The 27-year-old right-armer from Mount Maunganui, known as G, has been cutting through Fergus Hickey competition batting lineups with the regularity of an Australian feasting on Black Caps this season. In two games for Bay of Plenty in the Northern Districts minor association contest, the quietly spoken seamer has picked up 20 wickets for 117 runs at 5.75 per victim with two bags of 10, against Poverty Bay and Hamilton.
Against Hamilton at Te Puke Domain last Saturday he was virtually unplayable, bowling an impeccable line and length at a good clip to grab a career best eight for 29 from 20.1 first innings overs. In the second innings he bagged two for 44 to become the first Bay of Plenty representative to secure three 10-wicket bags, two of them in consecutive games.
Aldridge downplayed any super-human aspect in the performance, putting it down to bowling the right length on a helpful deck and being well supported by his fielders. At one point Hamilton were reduced to six for 30 and Aldridge had the remarkable figures of six for two.
His eight-wicket haul was the fourth-best return by a Bay representative with left-armer Gareth West at the head after rifling through Poverty Bay last season to return 9-31.
Former Rotorua cricketer Chris Smith holds the best match return record. He took 13 wickets (7-47 and 6-30) against Thames Valley in 1990/1.
Aldridge said he hadn't done anything specific over the off-season, just plenty of bowling indoors in Hamilton and taking part in the Knights' pre-season jaunt to Lincoln where they played the NZ Academy side.
"It's been good to be bowling outside. The cricket at Lincoln was pretty boring [flat pitches] but it gave me a chance to work on bowling the right length," Aldridge said.
The Hamilton-based trainee primary school teacher has honed his art in many solo target training sessions in the past month. He uses a ribbon (line) and a piece of card (length) to work on his disciplines in the nets.
All reports suggest Aldridge, whose father Bill played for Canterbury and Northern Districts, has picked up a yard or two of pace and moved from the medium fast division into the more "rapid" rank of bowlers.
Knights selector Pat Malcon, who was involved in picking Aldridge for his first class debut in 1998-99, believes he's found his straps and developed into a heady technician over the past few summers. Malcon compared Aldridge to Australia's Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie, who attack the batsmen through nagging lines and length.
"He's not a genuine out-and-out pace bowler but, like a lot of them, they suss the game out as they get on," Malcon said.
Aldridge gives the Knights options at the bowling crease as he's capable of taking the new ball into the wind or playing a third seamer's support role when the Tuffey and Butler are not required for higher levels.
Aldridge is the current Cricket Players Association representative for the Knights and has also taken on more responsibility for Bay of Plenty, captaining the side last week in the absence of Matthew Hart.
If Aldridge is named in the Knights side for next week's opener he will get the chance to add to his 57 first class wickets from 27 games at 32.44. Last year he was the Knights' best one-day bowler, taking 13 wickets at 21.38.