North & South – June 2019

64 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

Hewas15,bowlingatJonoata national

under-19tournamentinLincoln,

Christchurch,whenhewasfirstspotted

bycricketselectors.Callsweremade,

questionsasked,andfromtherehispro-

gressaccelerated.

In2011,hemadehistestdebutinone

ofNewZealand’smostcelebratedtest

victories,overAustraliainHobart,bya

nerve-janglingsevenruns.Thatcame

aftersufferinghisworstinjury,a stress

fractureinhisbackthatsidelinedhim

formuchof 2009 and2010.“Ina way,I

wasveryhappythathappenedtome,”

hereflects.“Ilearnta lotaboutmyself

andwhat’sneededfroma conditioning

andbodypointofview,beingableto

sustainplaying,trainingandcoping

witheverythingthatcomeswithit.”

Noquestionhe’samongthefittestof

New Zealand players – an immensely

patchesateachendwhereyoubatted

orbowled.Mumhatedgettingher

grassruined.She’dbeinsideandthe

ballwassmashingagainstthefence

andsideofthehouse.She’dbeyelling,

butwekeptgoing.”

WelcomeBaymeantcricketonthe

streetwiththeneighbouringkidsuntil

dark.Mostsportswereplayed,except

rugby.“Iwasneverbigorbraveenough

towanttohavea dipatthat,”saysTrent.

“Anythingwitha [round]ballI wasafter.

Andsurfing– anythingtodowiththe

water.Welovedourfishinggrowingup

there.It waspartandparceloftheBayof

Plentylifestyle.”Sufficetosay,thiswas

nota housewherePlayStationruled.

Althoughhewasa skinnyteenager,

Boultclearlyhadtalent,evenif it didn’t

initiallycatchtheattentionofimportant

heads within Northern Districts cricket.

Plenty,isinhisprime.Heranksamong
thefinestbowlersintheworld,capable
ofdevastatingspells,andthat’swhen
he’snotbeingsimplytopclass.
BoultandhisolderbrotherJonostart-
edlifeinRotorua(Jono,33,playedmore
than 100 gamesforNorthernDistricts
asa spinbowlingall-rounder).Their
parents,IanandWendy,movedto
ŌhopeandfinallyWelcomeBayinTau-
ranga,wheretheystilllive.
That would encouragemost
sports-mindedboysoutdoors,andthe
youngBoultsmadethemostoftheirset-
ting.AccordingtoJono,it wasthosedays
atPohutakawaAve,Ōhope,justoverthe
hillfromWhakatāne,thatfosteredtheir
loveofcricket.
“Weplayeda lotofbackyardcricket
againsteachother.Itwasverycompet-
itive,” he recalls. “There were big bald

Australianall-rounderGlennMaxwellisbowledforone,signallingthestartofBoult’sstunningperformanceintheWorldCup
match at Eden Park in 2015. He took four further Australian wickets in his next 16 deliveries, finishing with five for 27.