Local sports broadcaster Ian Gambold is back on Australian shores after touring New Zealand under the tutelage of Australian cricket legend Merv Hughes.

Hughes took two teams across to the North Island from 28 January – 5 February, with Gambold forming part of the Masters squad coached by Hughes.

The 10-day, five-match tour pitted both the Masters team and the younger side against some top-quality cricketers around Auckland, Rotorua, Hamilton, Western Bay of Plenty.

Run through Shaun Brown Cricket Coaching, Gambold said the tour was a bit of a whirlwind experience.

“The opportunity at my age to play cricket in a veterans’ tour was an opportunity I thought I’d grab,” he said.

“It was pretty lucky I got the tour, I put myself on the waiting list for this Shaun Brown tour of New Zealand in the middle of last year.

“I was on the computer around 7pm on 1 December and an email came through saying there was a spot available, so I moved fairly quickly to get it due to a cancellation and prepared for it.

“You’re used to playing once a week, but then you’re travelling and playing and playing again.

“For example, we played on the Thursday, that was okay, then had two days off and played on the Sunday, then you travel and then play on the Monday and again on Tuesday.

“You’d have Wednesday off then play Thursday – that’s four games in five days, so it’s pretty hectic.

“You don’t get a lot of time to sightsee, but I did manage to do a couple of things while I wasn’t playing cricket.”

The masters finished the tour with a 2-2 record, including a washout, at some of the best cricket venues in New Zealand.

While there weren’t too many scores to write home about, Gambold said the second game was a highlight.

“In the second game, we were 6/49 and in a lot of trouble batting first, but got to 120,” he said.

“I got 17 which, for myself, is a good score, given my cricket ability.

“We managed to bowl the others out for 101.

“Merv Hughes is the coach, he’s very knowledgeable about his cricket, he gives you a bit of a pep talk, he’s fairly encouraging.

“He realises at our age you can’t expect too much from us.”

Gambold said while future tours may not be on the cards, it’s still a box he can be proud to say he’s ticked.

“There are some good players, we were playing against players who do play veterans cricket for New Zealand in the over 60s, they’re a couple of levels above me,” he said.

“A lot of these fellas, they may be getting old but they have played at a pretty good level.

“It was an opportunity I had to take at my age.

“I played four games over there, experienced grounds I’m probably never going to play on again, and seen a region in the North Island I’ve always wanted to go to.”