Josh Smith walked away from the game to give his battered body a break, then walked into Old Boys's first-grade side on Saturday as Aaron Hazlewood's replacement, and then walked all over West Tamworth's batting lineup.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
On a day that will be recalled fondly by the Old Boys faithful for many years, the 30-year-old mine engineer took six wickets - including his first ever hat-trick and four wickets in five balls - before being promoted up the order and crunching nine boundaries to finish day one of the two-dayer at Riverside 1 44 not out.
The medium-pacers' 6-10 off 4.5 overs was a career-best performance, with Wests routed for 90.
"It was pretty good," Smith said of his bowling. "I was pretty happy with it."
Fresh from defending 56 to beat North Tamworth in the one-day final at No 1 Oval on Friday night, Old Boys finished the day 3-170.
Apart from a T20 stint in Gunnedah last season, Smith sat out 2018-19. "To be honest, I was sick of being sore for three or four days after every game," he said.
Read more:
"The back was giving me a bit of grief. So it was good to just have a break ... I got out on the motorbike a bit with some mates and did some other things, which was nice."
There was a downside to his time away from the game: he missed his teammates. He started playing for Old Boys in his mid-teens. "I live out at Boggabri now and I don't really know too many people. It's good to be back and be around my mates, really."
Smith only got his second start in first grade this season after Hazlewood's omission because of work. And despite his prismatic showing on Saturday, he does not expect to be an automatic top-grade selection. "I know where I'm at with that: we've got some fairly good guys in front of me ... I'm aware that I'm a fill-in."
Smith's hat-trick victims were Brendon Rakus, Grant Popplewell and James Hutton. Standing in the slips, Middlebrook predicted the rare feat.
On the hat-trick ball, Middlebrook asked Smith if he wanted another slip. Smith joked that it was not needed because he had no idea where the ball would land.
He almost got four wickets in a row, when Brock Ridgewell edged a delivery - the ball falling short of slips.The next ball Ridgewell skied a shot down the ground and Mitchell Swain took the easy catch.
Interestingly, Smith was the second victim of Sam Murphy's hat-trick when Old Boys and South Tamworth clashed in second grade the previous round.
As for his batting display on Saturday, he said Middlebrook told him he "was on a roll. So I might as well bat up the order a little bit. I'm normally pretty low in the tail. I went out there and rode my luck a bit ... and just had a bit of a swing really."
David Mudaliar top-scored for Wests with 56, while Old Boys opener Adam Lole is 91 not out.
Meanwhile, South Tamworth are 1-60 chasing the Bulls' 120 at No 1 Oval.
Souths' James Dunston claimed 5-32 off 13 overs, while Souths opener Mitch Smith is 42 not out.
,
