Only one person in the crowd during the Super Smash game in New Plymouth could have caught a six one-handed – a former Taranaki cricket captain.
Ryan Fleming was holding his son Freddie when he raised his left arm and grasped the six hit by Central Stags batter Ross Taylor on Thursday.
During his 15 years as a cricket player, Fleming never caught a ball outside the field at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, but many inside the field.
“When I was younger, I used to be pretty sharp but as I got older, I probably started to slow down a bit,” he said.
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His tips to catch a ball in a game are to “concentrate, focus, stay in the game”.
Fleming’s skills led him to play a season in 2013 for a cricket club in London.
However, his best memories are from games at the field he knew best.
“I got a 101 against Whanganui at Pukekura Park a long time ago, back in 2007, and quite a few club finals for Marist United on that field,” he said.
Since “the catch of the season”, old friends from all over the world have been contacting him.
“Heaps of people have come out of the woodwork, from all sorts of places. People I have not spoken to for years.
“People in England and Australia have seen that. It’s a bit of a laugh,” he said.
The funny story was that when in the United States, while watching a baseball game, Fleming did the same with a foul ball in 2013.
“When I travelled to play cricket in London. We stopped off in San Francisco for a week. And I went to a San Francisco Giants v Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game.
“A baseball got hit into the crowd and I caught it with my bare hands without a mitt and the locals thought it was absolutely wild,” he said.
© 2023 Stuff Limited
Former Taranaki cricket captain snares one of the great crowd … – Stuff
