The wait was worth it for Bay of Plenty, Mount Maunganui and Northern Districts A veteran Peter Drysdale.
Closing in on his 34th birthday, the younger brother of New Zealand Olympic rowing champion Mahé Drysdale today made his Ford Trophy and one-day List A debut for Northern Districts.
And, when the off-spinner came on as first change in the ninth over, the cheers went up as he took a wicket with his very first delivery.
BLACKCAP Mark Chapman attacked that first ball, only to sky a catch to Henry Cooper, the Northern Districts field running across in unison in delight.
The Sussex-born Kiwi had previously played just one first-class Plunket Shield (red ball four-day) match for the team at the top Domestic level, having come in amid a host of seven uncapped ND players at the tail of last season, when almost all of the regular ND squad had been sidelined by COVID-19 in the previous round.
Today's match was called off when rainstorms arrived in the afternoon, Northern Districts and the Auckland Aces sharing the points for no result.
It left the defending national champion Auckland Aces still aching for a win after four of the 10 rounds, but finally on The Ford Trophy board with two points.
