There's something special about Lord's cricket ground in London, England.
And now Northland has an even stronger link with the unique home of cricket after Tim Southee took 10 wickets for 108 runs in the first test against England this week.
Only two New Zealanders have achieved the 10-wicket trophyat Lord's.
Remarkably, the other cricketer was also a Northlander - Dion Nash, who took 11/156 in 1994 and also scored a half century - the first to do so.
Like Southee, Nash was closer to the medium-fast bracket of bowlers than out-and-out express pace, and had the ability to move the ball away from right handers.
Lord's can produce conditions which favour these bowlers. The history and custom of the place, the pitch, the atmospheric conditions - it's a cricketing cauldron which seems to suit, well, Northlanders it seems.
Sadly, Southee and his Black Cap team mates were unable to convert his bowling heroics into anything resembling a comparable batting display. They lost the match during what captain Brendon McCullum described as "one hour of madness" during which English bowler Stuart Broad ripped the heart out of the Black Caps, and his team mates finished the dying Kiwis off.
Southee was stoic in defeat and told a press conference: "I'm obviously a bit gutted at the moment with the result and I think the personal achievement will sink in later on.
"It was a special moment coming off, walking through that members area, it's something you dream of and it will be a moment that I will remember forever."
He's right - the defeat should not overshadow his achievement, or lessen Northlanders' pride in Southee's efforts. It will indeed be a moment he - and we - will remember forever.
