CRICKET: Skippy joins the Boys

HAMISH BIDWELL
The rehabilitation of discarded Black Cap Mathew Sinclair will begin with Napier Old Boys' Marist.
After fielding offers from most of the club teams in town, Sinclair said it was the chance to play with an old Central Districts teammate that convinced him to hitch his wagon to NOBM.
"With Campbell Furlong coming back to the club and playing, then we'll hopefully be able to bridge the gap to the younger players and help bring them through," Sinclair said yesterday.
"I've played a lot of cricket with Campbell and I think he's in the same vein as me in that we want to give something back to the game.
"I think that's fantastic because so many cricketers just walk away from it once they've finished at the top level."
Even before it became official, Sinclair's signing with NOBM was already attracting sniggers about how much he must be getting paid but club captain Dave Bovey says Sinclair's decision was all about the chance to team up with Furlong again.
"It's interesting, because I can say that we used the same chequebook to sign Mathew as we used with Daniel Drepaul last season - and that's no chequebook," said Bovey.
"We got confirmation this morning that Campbell's wife has said it's okay for him to play cricket and the reason Mathew decided to join us was simply that he'd come to live in Napier, was looking for a club and having played with Campbell for CD, he asked him who he should play for.
"Campbell said 'why don't you come and play for us?' and that's it.
"I've also played provincial cricket against Mathew, and got him out, too, I might add, so really we were his first point of call."
After being overlooked by the national selectors when they named their list of 20 contracted players for the 2005-6 season, Sinclair says this is shaping as the most important one of his career.
"I look at myself at 29 now and I want to give this year a really good go," he said.
"I think it's a make-or-break season for me, in all fairness. I'm going to give it my best and try to get back in the New Zealand team.
"It's been a disappointing few months but it's actually made me more hungry to get back up there again.
"I've been there and done it so many times and being in and out a lot has probably been a bit damaging psychologically but we've got a new bunch of selectors - that's a positive for me and hopefully I can prove I'm still capable of doing a good job."
Sinclair says one of the big pluses of the rejigged selection panel is the long-overdue inclusion of a batsman, in the form of former New Zealand player and coach Glenn Turner.
"I've had a lot to do with Glenn and I've actually been to him in Dunedin a number of times and had coaching sessions."
The big key this summer will be runs. Sinclair says one of the major reasons for his move to Hawke's Bay was the chance to play on decent grass wickets.
He says both McLean Park and Nelson Park boast terrific surfaces and if he can get among the runs, then the international recall will come.
The biggest problem has been finding ways to occupy his time without a tour to prepare for.
While his former Black Caps teammates are assembling for the tour of Zimbabwe, Sinclair has been working on the wharves and doing a bit of relief teaching at Napier Boys' High School.