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As Durham celebrated clinching their first English county championship title, former New Zealand spinner Paul Wiseman was able to add another line to his cricketing CV.
Wiseman was an ever-present member of the Durham team which won their maiden first division title by beating Kent at Canterbury to
finish eight points clear of Nottinghamshire.
Wiseman clearly brought an important element to the Durham table, even if by his own admission his figures were not flash.
He took only 17 wickets but, batting as high as No 7 and opening on one occasion, he averaged a tick under 24 with the bat, regularly chipping in with useful contributions, as well as providing an older head in the squad.
"In terms of figures it wasn't a massive season but a lot of that was due to the weather," he said. "In one month it was the 26th or 27th before I bowled a ball, so it was frustrating.
"And we had a very good seam attack which bowled a lot of teams out. We won more games than anyone else."
Offspinner Wiseman, 37, played the last of his 25 tests against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in April 2005. He'd made his debut in May 1998 against the same opposition, picking up his best test figures, five for 82 in his second test at Colombo.
Having taken 61 test wickets, Wiseman knew his time in the black cap was almost up when he toured Zimbabwe in late 2005 and didn't play a test or ODI. But now he can reflect that some things happen for a reason. Wiseman had done some time playing in the Lancashire League, then did a stint in the Bolton League with Walkden. He heard from an agent that Durham were looking for someone with his credentials. Had he played a test in Zimbabwe he'd have been ineligible when the chance came.
Wiseman played a couple of games in 2006 to help Durham stay in the first division, had a good 2007 and capped it off with the title last weekend. "It was one of the best units I've been involved with," Wiseman said.
Durham has provided Wiseman with a fresh lease of cricketing life. He acknowledged had they not come calling, he'd almost certainly have packed it in by now. After 14 years first-class cricket for Auckland, Otago and Canterbury - when he took 416 wickets in 155 games - it had become a bit stale.
"I loved every second I got playing international cricket, I worked as hard as I could and got the most out of myself, but it was [at] the stage where young guys were coming through.
"Last year, every day it was a new ground ... I'd heard about, and new players."
He had a dose of spinning nirvana in England too. In one month he played against all the great spinners of the modern game, Pakistanis Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed, Australian legend Shane Warne, India's Harbhajan Singh and Sri Lankan world test wicket record holder Muttiah Muralitharan.
"Where else do you get a chance to do that other than a World Cup?" Wiseman said.
He has one year left on his contract, which he thinks might do him. He's returning to Christchurch shortly, hoping to fit in some club cricket with Old Boys Collegians before a final spin round the first-class game.
