Mahela Jayawardene arrived in Napier yesterday and headed straight for the nets at Nelson Park, Napier. PHOTO/FILE
IT'S only last summer that he was here but batting maestro Mahela Jayawardene believes the predominantly young Central Districts Stags have grown in stature since he last hung out with them.
"It's good to be back. I think most of the boys have come a long way because they had a good end to last season to finish off - we won the one-day comp," Jayawardene said yesterday before tomorrow's round three McDonald's Super Smash Twenty20 match against the Otago Volts at McLean Park, Napier, from 7.10pm.
"I've seen some improvement in the last 12 months so it's great to see that."
Hopefully this summer would be a better one for the Stags, he said of the Heinrich Malan and Ben Smith-coached side who have a DL Method victory against the Canterbury Kings and a drawn affair when the match was abandoned against the Northern Districts Knights last Saturday in rain-drenched New Plymouth.
"You can see that in their body language and the way they've gone about starting the season so that's great because that's what you want from a young team, you know, keep them moving in the right direction," he said of CD who also have William Young captaining in his first Super Smash campaign.
The 39-year-old former Sri Lanka international and captain scored an impressive 249 runs in four outings, at a strike rate of 143, for CD last season.
Jayawardene didn't waste time, heading for the nets at Nelson Park, Napier, yesterday to polish his skills.
"It was raining a little in the morning so I came back in the afternoon and had a good net, a very good net so, hopefully, I'll have another good one tomorrow and be ready for Friday."
He should relish this campaign because the top order is knocking up double-figure scores which should enable him to play with a lot less conservatism.
"I just have to fit in. Last year I just played the last four games and one of them was rained off so I just need to get into it because the boys are playing some very good cricket. But it's not just batting but also about giving them some information on the game so learning about the game is the most important thing."
Opening batsman Jesse Ryder is the other wildcard who was supposed to start last Saturday at Yarrow Stadium but pulled up short due a to a recurring calf strain.
Yesterday he joined the Stags in the nets for some batting.
"He batted quite decently so it's about him feeling proper as well especially with the couple of injuries that we've had," said Jayawardene, reflecting on Black Caps red-ball seamer Doug Bracewell whose T20 season is over after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at the treacherous Yarrow Stadium outfield while fielding at the boundary.
The 26-year-old, who has played 26 tests, was on a tidy spell.
"We have to now wait for two more days before we make that call [on Ryder]," said Jayawardene.
"It's important that we don't rush him too because it's just the start of the season so we have a lot of cricket ahead of us."
Former Black Cap Ryder, 32, was available for T20 batting only last season but this summer returned earlier from county cricket in England to play first-class Plunket Shield cricket before the injury late last month.
Jayawardene is coming off a high after his Dhaka Dynamites team won the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) crown.
However, he only played a couple of games because Dhaka boast heavyweights such as West Indian pair of Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell as well as former Sri Lanka batsman/skipper Kumara Sangakkara.
"We have 10 overseas players so only four can play," says Jayawardene.
Sangakkara scored a 33-ball 36 to spearhead the Dynamites to a decent total before they stifled the Rajshahi Kings for a 56-run victory in front of a full house in Mirpur at the weekend.
It stamped the supremacy of the Dhaka franchise which snared its third title from four BPLs.
In some respects, Jayawardene relished the down time and fed off a team culture that made his stay stimulating and enjoyable.
He has packed in some decent air time over three days, leaving Bangladesh for home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to visit his family for a day before jetting off for Napier.
"I spent about half a day in Melbourne then last night got in to Auckland before flying to Hawke's Bay this morning."
Jayawardene will be at his sponsors Misty Cove Wines' function at Big Barrel, Napier, from 6pm to 9pm today.
"Obviously there'll be a lot of spitting involved," he said with a laugh, appreciating the time and technology that go into producing wine.
"I love my wines as well."
So what is his favourite tipple?
"I'm a red, mostly pinot noir guy, on the light side," he said, urging CD fans to turn out tonight as well as pack McLean Park tomorrow as the 13th man.