I never thought it'd play for New Zealand again: Neil Broom

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Neil Broom New Zealand
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Neil Broom of New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

There are some players who are quite unfortunate in their first attempt at international cricket and have to wait for ages before getting another go at the fortune. New Zealand’s Neil Broom is one of such players who waited for nearly seven years before finally getting a chance to be back in the national side.

After having played his first One-Day International in March 2009, Broom finally made his return December 26, 2016 against Bangladesh. Broom, who made his international debut in 2009, hasn’t achieved anything substantial at the highest level in 23 ODIs and 10 T20Is, he has averages of 17.95 and 13.40 respectively. But the absence of New Zealand middle-order Ross Taylor gave him the opportunity to become a BlackCaps player again. Coming in as a temporary fill-in in the Taylor, his appearance was short as his innings came to an end on 22.

“It’s nice to be given a chance at this late stage in my career,” Broom said on Wednesday (December 28). “I never thought it’d happen again but I don’t want to look back with any regrets this time. I just want to play my game and I thought I didn’t really do that at Hagley Oval, so I have two games left to just play the way I do, so here’s hoping.”

“It felt really good to put on the black shirt again. It’s a good six or seven years ago and I’ve played a lot of cricket since then, but it felt pretty special. I wasn’t as nervous as I was when I played for the first time all those years ago, I’m a bit older now at 33, and I’m looking at each game as if it’s my last to stamp my mark on the time.”

However, going into the second ODI at the Saxton Oval in Nielson, the 33-year old batsman has the ideal opportunity create a reputation for him and shed the tag of just being a fill-in player.

“If you can get yourself in then I think I can go pretty big. It’s a wicket that is pretty slow. There’s not a lot of real pace in it and it’s pretty true so there’s not a lot of demons in the wicket. It’s a beautiful ground, it’s a nice place to play so hopefully I can get some runs.”

The two teams will face off for the first time at the venue on Thursday (December 29).

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