Has bat, has ball, Angus Schaw shapes up for record-breaking Hawke's Bay game No 90. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hawke's Bay cricket captain Angus Schaw reckons he must have entered the World carrying a cricket bat.
Now aged 27, he's carried it a long way, and this weekend is set to become Hawke's Bay's most-capped player, saying it probably would not have happened had it not been for the career-changes driven by the man who held the record, 1980s and early 1990s Hawke's Bay and Central Districts all-rounder Stuart Duff.
A few hours before leaving Hastings to captain the in match 90, Bay a two-day Furlong Cup fixture against Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin, Schaw that it was when at Hereworth School and Lindisfarne College it was Duff, the coach, who changed him from being a seam bowler to a spinner.
"If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have played as many games," he said.
Possibly, though, the biggest influence just might have been the backyard cricket growing up at Tikokino, son of former Hawke's Bay cricket and coach Colin Schaw, with several others in the family having also played for Hawke's Bay.
As time went on, Angus Schaw's life revolved around cricket. While other contemporaries headed for the beach in summer, he'd be playing cricket. Holiday weekends – cricket.
He first played for Hawke's Bay Senior A at the age of 18 against Poverty Bay, on November 6, 2011, and now in his 11th season has played 89 matches for the representative side across the three formats of traditional two and three-day games, one-day 50 over matches and Twenty20s, equalling the record when Hawke's Bay crushed Taranaki at Nelson Park, Napier, a fortnight ago.
Duff, now 58, arrived on the scene just as limited-overs cricket was emerging, and played first for Hawke's Bay in a two-day match against Poverty Bay on November 15-16, 1980, about 10 weeks before the infamous underarm bowling incident in an ODI between New Zealand and Australia in Melbourne on February 1, 1981.
His 89 matches – all before Twenty20s – amassed over 15 seasons during which he also played 11 seasons of first-class and one-day cricket for Central Districts.
Each has performed well with both bat and ball. Schaw has scored 1957 runs for Hawke's Bay at an average of 28.36, and has taken 131 wickets at an average of 20.25, which compares with Duff's 2585 runs at an average of 32.31 and 229 wickets at an average of 17.74.
Schaw has been at his most prolific over the last four seasons, with 32 innings producing 1101 runs with best averages of 40 in 2019-2020 and 58.5 last season, and 53 of his wickets.
A particular highlight was his 114 not out batting No 7 as Hawke's Bay amassed 524-6 dec batting first challenging Nelson for minor associations premier trophy the Hawke Cup, in Nelson in 2019, joining Matt Edmonson who had scored 242 before becoming the sixth wicket, ending a partnership of 207.
Schaw claimed one wicket as Nelson were dismissed for just 147, enabling the Cup's return to Hawke's Bay.
It was lost to Hamilton but is now back in the Bay with the first defence of the season scheduled for the end of January.
Schaw says Hawke's Bay has remarkable depth, with as many as seven players missing this week on duty with Central Districts and yet more new faces on the trip to Levin.
While still yearning for his own opportunity to play at the higher level, with two seasons of cricket in England on his CV, he said: "It's really exciting to see a young guy playing and getting his chance."
He and Duff have had the chance to talk briefly about the historic moment beckoning. They both play golf at Hastings, and Schaw mentioned it when they were on the practice green a couple of weeks ago.
The Hawke's Bay team for the game against Horowhenua Kapiti is: Jono Whitley, William Clark, Christian Leopard, James Rawnsley, Angus Schaw (captain), Todd Watson, Dion Joll, Toby Findlay, Kurtis Weeks, Kyle Gardiner, Ben Stoyanoff, Liam McCarthy.