Nick Harding in action for Marist in 2022. Photo / NZME
After a decade of playing for Jurgens Demolition Whanganui, veteran cricket allrounder Nick Harding says this current team are the best he has seen.
The 32-year-old formally traded his blue cap for a black one last weekend before the final Furlong Cup match against Pay Excellence Hawke’s Bay – signifying he has played 50 games for the association.
Harding had already clicked over the milestone during the Twenty20 Chapple Cup tournament, held in Palmerston North in December.
Playing solely as a batsman, there had not been much to write home about – a good 32 off 22 balls in the last game with WBS Wairarapa aside – but back at Tasman Tanning (Victoria) Park, Harding made his official capping match a memorial occasion.
He would top score in both innings for Whanganui with 42 and 72, while also taking a wicket on Saturday as the home side had Hawke’s Bay under real pressure before the visitors just managed to pull ahead for a first-innings points win on Sunday morning.
“We needed to kick on, we knew we needed 300 against Hawke’s Bay, and unfortunately, we sort of crumbled,” said Harding.
“But the best thing is we’ve competed. We’ve never competed against Hawke’s Bay in all these years – I’ve never seen Hawke’s Bay sweat before.
“I’ve cooked under the big yellow a few times with Hawke’s Bay, more than a few, so to see them counting every run, from where we’ve come, [is great].
“They’re the best team in the country, so it shows how far we’ve come.”
Harding has seen a lot since his debut in 2015 at New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park against Whitaker Civil Taranaki.
It would be a rough introduction – Taranaki’s future Black Cap Tom Bruce scoring 163 not out while future All Black Jordie Barrett took 10 match wickets as Whanganui succumbed by an innings and 17 runs.
But Harding showed early promise, scoring a lower order 48 in Whanganui’s second innings.
He would then become one of the handful of now veteran players to bridge the gap from those lean seasons of heavy defeats to this summer, when Whanganui won four straight Furlong games for the first time in 13 years of the competition.
While full statistics are hard to find, it is surmised that Harding may be one of Whanganui’s highest contributors in terms of runs and wickets to have never earned a spot on the Victoria Park Honours Board – which is reserved for century makers and six-fors.
He estimates he has scored at least 10 half-centuries, his highest score being the near four-hour marathon of 75 in December 2024 to save the draw against Wairarapa at Victoria Park.
Harding can recall at least a three-for of wickets in an innings, although his job in that department has been as the third or fourth seamer to give the strike bowlers a breather.
“I only get bonus wickets really, that’s my role.”
This season, playing alongside a talented group in their twenties and teens that are starting to hit their stride at Furlong level, Harding produced a typical workman’s performance in supporting them – scoring 220 runs at a 27.5 average and taking six wickets.
Therefore, unsurprisingly, when asked what his career highlight from 50 games has been, he pointed to this entire campaign.
“It’s always been fun, throughout the years – the camaraderie – we’ve always enjoyed the environment.
“But this year, it’s obvious, it’s been awesome. We had a chance at getting the [Hawke Cup] challenge, and we still do, to an extent.”
An early finish for rain meant Hawke’s Bay could only have a pure draw with Taranaki at Napier’s Nelson Park at the weekend, meaning they still sit behind Whanganui on the Furlong table heading into their last match with Wairarapa in Masterton.
“I think we’ve gained a lot of respect where we’ve come with Waz [coach Warren Marr] in the group with the O’Leary family and obviously Dogger [Mark Fraser] and Ben [Smith] still kicking about,” Harding said.
A true all-rounder, until team mate Shaun O’Leary joined the ranks this past winter by debuting in the Heartland Championship, Harding had also been known as the last “double rep” – the very rare achievement of playing both senior representative rugby and cricket for Whanganui.
Harding played 21 first-class rugby games across the 2012, 2017 and 2019 seasons, scoring 136 points and winning the 2017 Meads Cup in that year’s Heartland Championship.
Last weekend Whanganui recognised middle-order batsman Carter Hobbs for his 25th match for the association, having debuted against Horowhenua-Kapiti in October 2021.