Wearing a black cap, although with a Whanganui logo on its front rather than a silver fern, former Black Cap Andrew Penn is this weekend prowling around the field and opening the batting in a rep Twenty20 tournament in Palmerston North.
Former Black Cap Andrew Penn puts his weight into the ball while opening the batting for Whanganui against Hawke’s Bay in Palmerston North on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
The 47-year-old is two seasons into a comeback to the sport after an absence of more than 15 years.
Last year he played only as a batsman, but this year he's returned the bowling crease with success.
As an opening bowler, Penn played five one-day internationals for New Zealand from 1997 to 2001, and went on tours, including to India, South Africa and England.
Despite most of his success for Central Districts and then Wellington coming in the red ball form of the sport, he never played a test. But he built a formidable record at domestic level until his final game in 2003.
Since then he's barely played a match, until a return to Whanganui from Wellington with his family in 2020.
A cricket comeback in Palmerston North for ex-Black Cap
Penn, a principal at law firm Treadwell Gordon, is also an administrator for Cricket Whanganui, and last season was persuaded by a colleague to come along to a Whanganui United club training.
Initially thinking he would only be playing socially, Penn ended up appearing as a batsman for the club's top team, and then the Whanganui rep side.
It took a while to find his feet.
"I think in my first game, the very first run that I got, I took off and, boom, the groin went, and so I was out for two or three weeks.
"The next game it was the hamstring, so that happened for a couple of months before the body started to adjust to playing cricket again," he said.
In his first few games, opponents' eyebrows were raised.
"I think a few people had to have another look. They weren't sure if it was the same guy.
"It was really great because I was actually playing with a few of my old cricket mates' sons and it was really nice."
Andrew Penn bowls for the Black Caps against Sri Lanka in 2001. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Last winter while coaching at the city's new indoor cricket training nets - Penn is also making waves as an administrator for the sport in the city - he started bowling again.
And this summer, in a two-day match for Whanganui against Hawke's Bay, he received the call to roll his arm over. He picked up four wickets.
"The ball still swung a bit, but I certainly didn't have the same pace. The old instincts really came back, and the competitiveness and that desire to get the batsman out.
"I think I bowled 18 overs and I couldn't really walk that well for about a week, so it really took its toll.
"I loved it. It was great fun."
A shoulder injury will keep Penn from bowling for the rest of this summer, but he's keen to get back into it over winter so he's ready for next year.
Penn has no plans to hang up the boots, although he said he would happily give up his rep sport if a youngster was ready to step up.
"I didn't really play for so long. I barely played in my 30s. Once I started playing again I realised just how much I enjoyed it, more so just being about the team culture and being able to pass on some of my experience."
Penn said he and team-mate Mark Fraser were the elder statesmen of the Whanganui team. Everyone else was in their 20s or teens.
When he picked up his recent bag of wickets for the district, Penn was told they were his first for Whanganui since 1995, before he moved to Wellington to play.
Only two of his rep team-mates were alive then.
Former New Zealand cricketer Andrew Penn is again wearing Whanganui colours after a lengthy absence. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
As the years have passed, Penn has changed his outlook on cricket. Initially he thought he under-achieved at the sport, but now looks back on his top-level days with fondness.
Sports psychologist Gary Hermansson, a former first-class cricket and rugby player, said for people such as Penn, a return to sport can take them back to why they played the game in the first place.
"I think the important thing is there's an opportunity to enjoy the experience.
"A lot of the time when you're aspiring and striving for higher honours, or being able to prove you're capable of what you're doing, there's a layer of anxiety that sits there."
Managing that was common among sportspeople, Hermansson said, but someone with more life experience, such as Penn, would have a different outlook.
"You can enjoy the camaraderie. You can enjoy the challenge, but also not get overwhelmed by the constraints when you're striving to seek higher honours."
Whanganui coach Warren Marr said his team could learn plenty from Penn's presence, enthusiasm and work ethic.
"His leadership through his actions is what he brings to the team...
"At 47 years old you'd think, 'oh my god, he doesn't want to be playing cricket any more', but he's just so passionate about the game. At every training he's the first there and last to leave.
"I'd always pick him in my side. If he wants to play he can play as long as he wants."