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November 18, 2024 • 11 mins

Canterbury all-round legend Frankie Mackay has added a couple more major national records to her already-bursting cricketing CV, on the first day of the national one-day Hallyburton Johnstone Shield for 2024/25.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From the sports field to the shearing Shed.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
It's the Country Sport Breakfast with Brian Kelly on gold
Sport well domestic cricket.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
Now on the Show where Canterbury all round legend Frankie
McKay has added a couple more major national records to
her already bursting cricketing CV.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
She'll have to have another page to it.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
McKay needed just three runs over the weekend to go
past retired teammate Amy Sothawait's outstanding Korea tally five one
and forty seven runs.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
She joins us on the show this morning.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Frankie, congratulations, good morning and thank you very much.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
It was nice to finally took that one off.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
That's a hell of a lot of runs in the Korea, really,
isn't it.

Speaker 4 (00:43):
Yeah, it's a few. It's definitely a few. I'd like
it if I probably didn't have to run as many
of them, so I had a few more boundaries along
the way. But yeah, nice to bring up the milestone.
It's for sure.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Talk us through how special it was to break that record.
You obviously knew in your mind when you were out
there that record was getting pretty close. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yeah, it's been it's been one. In all honesty, I've
had my eye on for a little while and just
kind of injury and little patches of loss of form
of have gotten the way.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
And then Amy and her.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Last season scored a few too many runs and pushed
it out a little bit too far, and I was
hoping that I'd have the chance to bring it up
last season actually, but managed to go out for a
duck in the last game of the season which left
me needing three runs for the record, So good reason
to come back and have a good cracket it this year.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
You were talking about injuries. You had a pretty serious
ankle injury, didn't you. Is that all sort of cleared
up now?

Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean as good as it's kind of going
to be. I think anytime you have those big ones
that mean you end up under the knife and leave
you rushing to get back for some cricket the next
season around, there's always a bit of kind of lingering
stuff going on with it. But I mean it's good
enough to be back on the field of that playing,
so yeah, I guess that's the main thing.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Already.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
The leading wicket taker in the competition's history with one
hundred and seventy three now and the most runs you've
had a moment now to sort of ponder your career,
so you know what's next so to speak.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
Yeah, that's always the interesting one. A lot of people
have said, you know, because you kind of you start
picking out a couple of milestones that you'd like to
tick off, and I'd mentioned them over the last couple
of years that there are a couple of big ones
that I'd love to have the chance to achieve. And
basically every person that you talk to is like, well,
make sure you don't stop there. Make sure you don't

(02:36):
stop it just getting to the record and then call
and quits on it there and make sure you push
it out and extend it as far as you can
to the next person. So I guess that's the main thing,
and just making sure that I guess playing in a team,
a Cannibury team at the moment, there's a few youngsters,
you know, when you're turning up to training and some
of the people are half your age. That's there a

(02:57):
nice leveler at times. So it's just ensure that as
one of the old heads that you're passing on as
much as possible and just having a good time doing it.
I think sometimes in your career things get a little
bit serious, a little bit tense, whether it's you're trying
to make New Zealand teams, whether you're trying to make finals,
or you're captaining and you're just trying to be everything

(03:18):
to everyone, and at times the game can.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Not be not enjoyable, but it loses that little bit
of fun element around it.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
So for me, I guess the big thing is that
the end of your career is coming around a lot
quicker than the start of it was. It's definitely a
lot closer. So just making sure it's a lot of
fun while you're doing it, and I guess taking the
time when you do have those days of success, in
moments of success, that you actually sit back and reflect
on them and enjoy what's happened through your career, enjoy

(03:47):
the little bits of success you're having, and then enjoy
the fact that you've got teenagers that are having some
great days out as well, and just yeah, have a
bit of fun with it, have a bit of enjoyment
with it. Because as well as people tell me to
push those records out, they also remind me that you
are a very long time retired when you finally are you.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Have you given a thought to retirement?

Speaker 3 (04:04):
I mean, how many seasons have you got in you
before you hang up the pants? Oh?

Speaker 4 (04:09):
I mean, I definitely think anytime you're on the other
side of thirty, you have thoughts of retirement, and especially
when you know lots of the people that you've played
a long time with they are all starting to retire
and have families and move into different careers. Yeah, I
think it definitely crosses your mind. And there's been times
where there's been injuries and there's little bits where you

(04:31):
start to lose a bit of form and you question
yourself as a time, are you getting in the way
of some of those youngsters? Are you taking opportunity by
still trotting out every week and having a good time
doing it? But yeah, I mean at the moment, I'm
I'm having a good time. I am really enjoying getting
the opportunity to play some cricket. So we'll see, But
it definitely won't. It won't be forever. It won't be

(04:54):
we won't be having this conversation and five or ten
years time where I'm still rocking out and sending up
every week. So yeah, I think the questions always there
and as long as I think, as long as you're
playing well and as long as you're still enjoying it,
then keep doing it for as long as you want.
But once you start losing one of those two things,
then it's probably getting a pretty good time to hanging

(05:14):
the boots up.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Well, you've passed the edition as far as commentary is
concerned as well, because you've sort of been involved with
television commentary, so.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
You enjoy that.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, love it.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
I mean if you'd asked me when I was ten
years old, you know what the best jobs could be,
I would have said playing.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Cricket would have been one of them.

Speaker 4 (05:33):
And I've been lucky enough to do that and to
play for New Zealand and to play for I mean,
I think this is eighteen years now playing for Kenterbury.
So that's kind of that side of things ticked off.
And then if you'd ask that same ten year old
what might be a nice job after that, I think
they would have said that sitting down watching cricket, talking
about cricket with other people that love cricket and getting
paid to do it would have sounded like a pretty

(05:54):
good sticking option. So yeah, I absolutely no complaints with that,
and it's a great end to day. It's a great
crew to hang out with, and yeah, it's a lovely
way to keep connected to the game as well, and
you get to be part of some really special moments
and cricket, but just in a slightly different way. And
it's definitely a lot less stressful and you go home

(06:15):
a lot less sore after a day's place. So it's
a pretty nice gig.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
Not the same kind of pressure as being out there
keeping wickets.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Really is it.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Exactly exactly?

Speaker 4 (06:25):
There's a lot less things that can go wrong and
a lot less stresses. You don't have the days where
you pull back the curtains and you just hope it's
raining or you hope it's so. Yeah, it still has
stressful moments, for sure. The heart rate gets up when
you get the countdown in your ear that you're about
to go live. But it's yeah, a a different kind
of pressure.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
And Frankie result wise to start the season, two big
losses actually to Otago, who are the defending champions. Was
that an early wake up call for how the magicians
are a little bit off the pace?

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Is that just a bad start to the weekend.

Speaker 4 (06:59):
I'd love to write it was just a bad start.
I think the group's actually been training really well, actually
felt quite it struck quite good coming into the weekend.
I thought we were in a reasonably good place. But yeah,
we were absolutely blown off the park, which is not nice.
I think that first game was a little bit conditions.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
We've probably got the worst of it both ways.

Speaker 4 (07:20):
We've got to spend a lot of time bowling with
a wet ball and fielding on a wet outfield with rain,
and then by the time we went out to bat,
the wicket had changed quite a bit. Not getting bold
out for sixty changed a bit.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
But it definitely was a little bit trickier. So that was.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
Probably a disappointing way to get the season started. And
then yeah, the second day we were.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Just off the pace again.

Speaker 4 (07:42):
So a couple of little things to tweak before the
next couple of games in two weeks time. But yeah,
once you kind of get in season there and the
games do come around thick and fast, you kind of
feel like you're not going to change everything completely. You
kind of can't. You've got to go with the work
that you done over the winter. You've got to go
with the plans that you've got, so just for us,

(08:04):
I think it's a little bit of trying to get
a little bit of confidence back in people and being
really clear how we want to go about things and
just take the game on a little bit. We probably
got ourselves behind every time with ball or definitely with that,
and so it's trying to be a little bit more courageous,
take a little bit more aggressive option, take the game
on a little bit and see if we can put

(08:25):
other teams under the pressure that Otago put us under.
But a look, they played fantastically well and they were
really kind as well.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
They got me a very.

Speaker 4 (08:33):
Nice gift at the end of the weekend and presented that,
but I did say that they could.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Have kept the gift and maybe given us a one
or two, and it was.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
A very much have you Canbry'll around legend. Frankie McKay,
you made your day booth for Canterbury, Frankie and both
all mates back. I think two thousand and seven, two
thousand and eight has the game changed much from then
to now?

Speaker 4 (08:52):
Oh massively hugely, so almost to the point that it
is it's almost unrecognizable. And I think that that's been
the really cool thing. I think the standard on field
has really improved. I think the resourcing around the game
is massively improved. I mean, back in those days we

(09:13):
were completely amateur.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
You would be losing money.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
By playing cricket for your association, your coaching staff. You know,
we would have one coach who also worked a full
time job and they were turning out basically for petrol
money to coach. At the end of the day's work.
We'd have a manager who organized everything and tried to
run the ship, and they were working a full time job.
And now we've got kind of two full time coaches.

(09:39):
You've got people who have come on board as support
staff who are and part time roles but kind of
wrap around support with SNC and nutritionists and physios and
mental skills and bedding coaches and bowling coaches. So the
opportunities now for people in the game are massive. We
play on the best grounds in the country, you know,
we turn up and play Super Smash at Pegley Oval

(10:02):
and the Basin and Sidon Park and day Oval and
you list them off and it is just the premier grounds.
Those games talivised this media interest around it. I mean
we used to play our T twenty competition. We'd play
it on a Friday night, four o'clock start, and you'd
travel the day before the game. Then you'd play you
Onnday competition the Saturday Sunday after it, and you know,

(10:23):
five weekends later, your competition will be done. You've played
all the other associations. If you are lucky enough to
be in finals, great, If not, well, you know, winter
well and see you next year.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
We all have five.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
Weekends of very tough cricket again. So just just a
completely different world. The way that you know, the teenagers
turn up. They can all play a reverse, they all
player scoop, they're all bowling sool walls and bounces and
everything under the sun that I look at and mean
when I was seventeen and debuting, it's I could player
a front foot defense, a reasonably nice looking cover drive

(10:55):
and a pull shot and you just kind of survived
off that. So the game is just it's so different,
and it's really cool. It's really cool to have been
part of that change from completely amateur to semi professional.
White fans obviously now fully professional and trying to push
for a little bit more for our domestic cricketers too,
and it certainly someone a little bit older in years.

(11:16):
It keeps you on your toes a little bit. You've
always got to be growing and adapting and changing with it,
because if you don't the way the game's going, it'll
just leave you behind.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Well, Frank you again, congratulations and good luck to the
Canterbury Magicians. I go well, thank you for joining us.

Speaker 4 (11:31):
Yeah nowhorries at all, thanks for having me
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