CRICKET - Elated teen bolter aims to bowl tight

After a Wednesday evening where everything went right, young Josh Matthews' feet are slowly beginning to touch the ground again.
Matthews is the big surprise in this season's senior Northland representative cricket side for the Brian Dunning one-day tournament starting in Taupo this weekend.
The call-up was enough to send the 17-year-old pace bowler into orbit but there was more to follow when he attended the Whangarei Boys' High School prizegiving ceremony later in the evening.
"I got the batting award, the bowling award, the best all-rounder and they gave me most valuable player too."
Matthews was still elated yesterday and admitted he found it tough getting to sleep on Wednesday wondering how he would do on his debut.
"It would be nice to pick up a couple of wickets but I'll just be trying to bowl tight, find the right line and length and see if I can get a bit of movement off the pitch," he said.
The right-arm medium pacer came to the selectors' notice after his hard work training over the winter.
"I've been practising at least four nights a week at the indoor centre and playing in the weekends," Matthews said. "On top of working hard in the nets I've been doing body balance classes at the gym which have helped me a lot with flexibility and also running a lot."
Boys' High coach Jamie Lee said Matthews was one of the most promising players to come out of the school in the last few years.
"He's been picked as a bowler but he's a very reasonable batsman as well, so he's a prospective all-rounder and he's still got another year left at Boys' High," Lee said.
Matthews will bowl at first change with Steve Schwartfeger and the recalled Dan Robinson opening the bowling. He is likely to get a good spell of bowling in the team's two opening matches against Poverty Bay and Waikato Valley on Sunday and Monday, before the big test on Tuesday against Bay of Plenty.
Two other debutants are in the Northland side. Kamo's professional Qasim Sheikh got the nod from selectors Ross Kneebone and Trevor Penney, ahead of the area's other professionals, as the team's non-resident player.
"He's a solid left-hand batter at the top of the order and that gives him an advantage - also he's probably been the most consistent (scorer) of the professionals so far," Kneebone said.
Sheikh is looking forward to repaying the selectors for their choice: "It gives me the chance to play cricket of a higher standard while I'm here and that will make me work harder to keep my game improving."
The other newcomer is Chris Page, another left-hand batsman, who takes the middle-order role left vacant in the by his injured brother Ian.
"Chris' an exciting talent, who hits the ball hard and who has been in good form for the under-19s and in club cricket and he deserves his chance," Kneebone said.
Harry Darkins' selection may raise a few eyebrows but only because of his comparative lack of cricket this season. Kneebone said his selection was down to consistency.
Two regulars, John Child and Darron Goodwin, were unavailable for selection but both are expected to come back into contention later in the season.