Cricket: Last-minute inclusion Burtt helps Canterbury destroy Auckland.

As far as preparation for State Shield cricket goes, a week's festivities in Wanaka is hardly ideal.

But Canterbury debutant Leighton Burtt put a break by the lake with his mates to one side yesterday and went on a one-man wrecking mission, taking 5-26 off 7.1 overs as Auckland capitulated for 100 on home turf yesterday.

Canterbury passed the total in the 22nd over for the loss of three wickets.

Burtt, a seamer, was a late call-up to the Canterbury side following the withdrawal through injury of Nixon McLean and Richard Sherlock.

He returned from Wanaka to Christchurch at 8.30pm on Friday night to a message from Canterbury coach Dave Nosworthy to give him a call. By 5am the next day he was up to catch a flight to Auckland to join his new team-mates.

Burtt had Paul Hitchcock caught behind, removed Richard Jones' off stump, yorked Tama Canning, had Carl Cachopa brilliantly caught behind first ball by Michael Papps, and rounded it off by removing Lance Shaw's middle pole.

In between he had batsmen groping for the ball as if they were wielding butter knives rather than bats.

"It was shaping around nicely out there," Burtt, 21, said. "But really it was that I was running on adrenaline; I was just so excited out there."

Burtt said he arrived to find a good feeling in the team on the morning of the match but even they couldn't have envisaged a seven-wicket victory with less than half the overs completed.

The tall right-armer has cricketing pedigree - his great uncle was former New Zealand left-arm spinner Tom Burtt. His second cousin John Ward was a New Zealand wicketkeeper and his mother, Vicki, also represented her country in the sport.

While Burtt's is a star on the rise, Michael Papps is on the re-rise, if only there was such a word.

He seems to have eradicated the little tap dance he performed on the crease last season, making him much better balanced. After struggling in the State Championship early this season, Papps has come good in the one-dayers, scoring 92 and an undefeated century in the last round.

His 43 yesterday was meagre by comparison but it set a platform Canterbury could not be beaten from. His 83-run partnership with Shannan Stewart (37) took Canterbury to within 17 runs of Auckland's total. It was an innings laced with cover drives.

It was done, too, under the watchful eye of New Zealand Cricket's technical adviser Ashley Ross.

For Auckland it was yet another one-day disappointment. They have yet to win a game this season after finishing bottom last year.

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Wellington easily accounted for Central Districts at the Basin reserve after an impressive performance from discarded Black Cap Iain O'Brien.

The right-armer took 5-43 from his 10 overs yesterday as Central collapsed from 193-3 to 220 all out chasing Wellington's 270.

Jesse Ryder led the way for Wellington with 61. The Parlane brothers, Neal (41) and Michael (51), contributed with the bat for the home team, while only Mathew Sinclair (64) and Geoff Barnett (57) made any headway for Central.


- HERALD ON SUNDAY