North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 65

IfI’mfifthbestintheworldorfirst,I’m

stillthesamebowlerI waslastweek,”

hesays.“Iplaypurelyforthereasonto

playwithmymates;I playtowinandI

alsofeelI havea bigroletotryandin-

spirekidstoplaycricket.

“I’vehadmanydiscussionswitha lot

ofpeopleaboutkidsgrowingupinNew

Zealand.Alltheywanttobeis [AllBlack

greats]RichieMcCaworDanCarter,

andthat’sbloodybrilliant.Butthere

shouldberoomforkidswhowantto

idolisethesortofguysI lookedupto.I

hopetherearekidsouttheresaying,‘I’d

lovetobea Blackcapandbowllike[fast-

bowlingchums]Timmy[Southee]or

Wags[NeilWagner],orme,orwhoever

it is.”

Boult’ssuccessis builtonanuncanny

ability to swing the ball in the air, either

appearsseveraltimesinthepopularband

Six60’svideooftheirhit“WhiteLines”.

HeloveslivinginMtMaunganui.

Boulthasthedrivetosucceed,butnot

tothepointofobsession.Andif he’dhad

tofinda jobintherealworld,helikesto

thinkhewouldhavegota trade“onthe

tools”.Crickettelevisioncommentary

box,alongsidea clutchofformerplay-

ers?No,thanks.

Heisn’tweddedtostatistics,either.

Heoncetooksixwicketsinaninnings

againstAustraliainHamilton– anda

daylaterdroppedfromtopplaceonthe

worldbowlingrankings.Today,he’s

rankedNo2 inone-daycricketandNo

7 intestmatches.

“Seriously,I donotunderstandhow

thoserankingswork.I’mmoredriven

by taking wickets and winning matches.

athletic,agilesportsman.Thatbringsa

ruefulchucklefromformerBlackcaps

batsmanPeterFulton,whocaptained

theyoungBoultonhisfirst-classdebut

forNewZealandA inIndiainlate2008.

“InChennai,it was37°C,ridiculously

humidandreallyunpleasant,”saysFul-

ton.“Ithinkhecrampedupafterabout

fiveovers.Nowhe’soneofthebestath-

letesininternationalcricket,andthat

justshowshowmuchworkhe’sdoneon

thatsideofhisgame.”

Boult’sfirstcaptainatNorthernDis-

tricts,JamesMarshall,remembersa

youngmanwho“tookimmensepridein

attentiontodetail.Itwassomething

Trenttookonboardprettyquickly.”

SuchhasbeenBoult’srisethathesits

thirdamongallNewZealandbowlers

fortakingtestwickets,behindonly

thegreatSirRichardHadlee(431)and

spinbowlingall-rounderDaniel

Vettori(361).Boulthas 246 from 61

tests.He’salsotaken 147 one-day

internationalwicketsin 79 games,

withVettori’s 297 topofthatlist.

Retainingformandfitness,hecould

catchVettori’sone-daymark.Hadlee’s

testrecordisanotherstory.

There’sanadrunningonNewZea-

landtelevisionthat’ssetina cricket

practicenet,whereBoultandanactor

areinconversation.Boult’slineisthat

hewantstotakemorewicketsforNew

Zealandthananyoneelse.Buttobe

clear:hedoesn’thaveticketsonhimself.

“I’dlovetotake 431 wickets,butI’m

nevergoingtogetthere,”hesays.

Evenafterwinninganeye-popping$1

millioncontracttoplaya fewweeksin

thelucrativeIndianPremierLeague

twoyearsago,hisresponsewhenasked

whathe’dbesplashingoutonwas:

“Dunno.Newpairofjeans,maybe.”

“Whentheyputthat[TV]scriptin

frontofme,I said,‘DoI havetosaythis?

CanI sayI wanttobeNewZealand’s

highest-everrunscorer?’Theysaidno.”

Thejoke’stypicallyself-deprecatory.

BoultbatsNo11,bottomoftheorder,

andwhilehe’samongthebettertail-

endersinthegame,giftedwitha sharp

eyeandhighdegreeofinventionatthe

battingcrease,he’sstilllastman in.

So,whois theman

behindthecricketer?

Importantly,he’sinchargeofthemusicin

theNewZealanddressingroom.Histaste

issaidtobemodern,butnota specific

genre (no 1960s classics, thank you). He

Boultdisplayshisoutstandingathleticismwiththisone-handedcatchoff

hisownbowlingtodismissAustralian Mitchell Marsh in the 2016 test at

Wellington’s Basin Reserve.

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