Central Stags and former Canterbury paceman Ryan McCone, a five-time Plunket Shield champion, is bidding farewell to cricket at the top of his game.

Following a full-time career opportunity too good to turn down, 31-year-old McCone has announced his retirement from all levels of the sport, finishing as a national first class and T20 title-holder with the Stags in his final season.

A lean left-arm seamer with a bustling run-up and compact action that created awkward angles for opposing batsmen, McCone played an integral part in the Stags’ successful Plunket Shield championship defence of 2018/19 — delivering the second most prolific first-class season of his 10-season career, 24 wickets from seven matches at 22.41.

He produced the final wicket under pressure in the last throes of a tight opening-round victory against Canterbury at Saxton Oval, and the third five-wicket bag of his first-class career in Napier to help seal yet another tense victory over Northern Districts — match-winning memories to last a lifetime.

McCone joined the Central Stags in June 2016 after seven summers with his native Canterbury, and departs with an overall first-class career tally of 139 wickets, three five-wicket bags, one century, and one half century from 53 first-class matches in New Zealand.

In List A cricket he achieved 55 wickets from 40 matches including two five-wicket bags, and made his sole half century (52 off 50 balls) in one of his last Ford Trophy appearances for the Stags this summer, his 105-run stand with Ben Wheeler against the Wellington Firebirds in Lincoln setting a new Central Districts List A record against all teams for the eighth wicket.

In T20s, McCone made 30 appearances from 2012/13, including the 2016/17 Grand Final. He claimed 21 wickets, the last 11 of those for the Stags, but his biggest passion was the longest format of the game.

The five-time Plunket Shield champion won the first-class championship with Canterbury in 2010/11, 2014/15, and 2015/16 before joining the Stags and winning back-to-back medals once again in 2017/18 and 2018/19 — a remarkable ratio unrivalled by any other New Zealand Domestic player during his 10-season career.

“When I think about it and realise the likes of Otago haven’t managed to win the Plunket Shield in 31 years, it’s a pretty cool ratio, and one I’m very grateful for,” said McCone.

Ironically his career-best season for Canterbury was the one that got away — when Kieran Noema-Barnett’s Central Stags won the Plunket Shield in 2012/13.

“That season, I took 66 wickets across all formats, a really good year. The next season, I was looking to carry forward that momentum and the day before the first T20 game, Matt Henry hit the ball back at me in training and smashed my thumb. It took me until the back end of that season just to get back in.”

It was the start of a run of battles with untimely injuries, but he was finally back in peak shape and top form in 2018/19. So why leave now?

“Yes, that has crossed my mind — but what a way to go out. I’m just so glad that I could do that for the Staggies this last year, do it for them. I really wanted to show them what I was capable of.”

Central Districts High Performance Manager Lance Hamilton said that McCone, who was a contracted player, would be sorely missed both on and off the field next season.

“Ryan’s a fierce competitor on the field and the ultimate professional off the field,” said Hamilton.

“His contribution to the Stags across the past three seasons has been immense. From a cricketing perspective we are extremely sad to see him go, but at the same time we’re really pleased for Ryan and his family that he has secured an exciting opportunity to begin his life after cricket.

“I have no doubt that Ryan will achieve as much success in his new career path as he did on the cricket field, such is his professionalism and drive to succeed; and we wish Ryan, Jen and their young daughter Rosie all the best for the future.”

RYAN McCONE — INTERVIEW

What’s the next chapter post-cricket?

“I’ve accepted an environmental planning role with Jacobs, which is an amazing international company with a strong focus on innovation and sustainability. My background is I graduated with a law degree with honours in 2010, began my cricket career in 2009, and carried on to complete a Bachelor of Commerce in 2014. My honours dissertation had been on natural resource law — the Resource Management Act and that area. I have an exciting opportunity now with Jacobs to enter a graduate programme, work in project management and tackle a range of facets within the organisation that will allow me to grow professionally from the bottom floor up in that sustainability area. I always said for me to retire from cricket it would definitely have to be the right job, the right fit — and this opportunity, based in Christhurch where I’m based with my family, is too perfect to turn down. I’m really looking forward to it. I start in June and can’t wait.”

First-class cricket is hard yakka, physically and mentally demanding, yet played out of the spotlight in New Zealand. Where did the enjoyment come from, for you?

“Winning is why I played. I’m a fiercely competitive person and don’t like giving any team, any person, an inch. Across four-day cricket, in all those games, it’s been a battle of attrition. To contribute to five Plunket Shield titles means a lot to me, to know I’ve been part of two teams at different times who know how to win. And playing with a lot of people whom I respected immensely. I’ve always thought of myself as one of the lesser talented guys, but the thing I love about four-day cricket is if you work hard and have a bit of persistence about you, the results come. When I look back over my own cricket career, that’s what stands out to me, rather than any ‘performance’. We work so very hard towards winning games for our region, and it’s been pretty cool.”

What did those two champion teams — Canterbury and the Stags — have in common? Are there things you can pick out that are hallmarks of a winning side?

“Absolutely. It’s that belief that you can win from anywhere. In the early days under Fults [former Canterbury captain Peter Fulton], I think we were ahead of our opponents in that area at that time, playing aggressive cricket and being prepared to lose if it was what gave us a chance to win. With the current Stags set-up, it’s been a bit different again in that everyone knows their game so well, we’re always challenging each other, and everyone was so engaged in the field. I reckon that was the difference; that everyone in the Stags was genuinely embracing being on the park for four-day cricket. ‘Knowing how to win’ is massive. Other teams may have their attitude right, and are doing all sorts of other things right, but you can see they just don’t know how to respond when the going gets really tough because they haven’t built up that bank of experiences. Both the Canterbury sides (with Fults, Elly [Andrew Ellis], Toddy [Todd Astle]…) and Stags sides I have played with had a core of very experienced players.”

As you only retire once, we are going to give you a leave pass to pick out a few special moments. The tight win at Saxton Oval this season produced amazing scenes on the match video of that last wicket — with your last delivery in that innings, Canterbury just needing to hold on for one more over. Right up there as one of your best personal experiences in cricket?

“Absolutely, it was very cool and satisfying to do it against a team like Canterbury. And with it being so very close… even though we should really have closed it out a lot earlier! On the flip side, that fifth-round game that we lost to Canterbury at Rangiora, by just two wickets, another very close game — that kept me up all night, because I thought we should have won that and nailed the Plunket Shield then and there. But I learnt, over the later stages of my career, that you have to keep an even temparament about these things. If you ride the wave too much, you’ll get into trouble, so my philosophy became to enjoy it when it’s good and, if it’s not happening then that’s all good, move on to the next one.”

Where did your love of the game begin?

“It all started for me with the excitement around the 1992 World Cup on TV. Bowling in the hallway when I was four, five years old. I’ve been a cricket tragic for as long as I can remember. I always bowled, and always tried to bowl fast, but even at Under-17s and Under-19s I was so small that I bowled with the keeper up. It didn’t come easy but, because of that, I think that’s where I really learned the skills with the ball — until I matured physically to the point where I could use them at a more decent pace. I look back on those teenage years and think that was ultimately a good thing because it helped me become a more consistent bowler in my early twenties.”

What is it about first-class cricket in particular that players find so addictive?

“For me, I always enjoyed the stategy involved in four-day cricket. It’s like a game of chess and if I had a chance, I would back my skills to outsmart a batsman over a period of time — the way I set them up and the way I think about the game. And also, it’s the ability physically to keep turning up day after day. That is something I took pride in, and when you put those two aspects together, I guess that’s been my niche and what I’ve enjoyed the most. I love white-ball cricket too, but there’s something a little bit extra for me about playing red-ball.”

Parting thoughts?

“I’d like to thank Canterbury and Central Districts Cricket for the opportunities they gave me and most of all to thank my family and wife Jen. Jen’s been with me since before I made my first-class debut and she’s been through all the highs and lows with me. There are so many people to thank — every coach and player at every level of the game — who have left their mark on me, helped me as a cricketer, but more importantly helped me as a person. I’m sure there will be times when I miss playing cricket, but I also know that I won’t have any regrets because I’ll be able to look back in fondness and went out on my own terms.”

RYAN McCONE — CAREER STATISTICS

First-class (Plunket Shield)

Debut: March 2009

53 matches

953 runs at 17.32 (high score 102)

139 wickets at 33.61 (best bowling 5-46)

Canterbury: 43 matches, 111 wickets at 34.72, 2 x five-wicket bags, BB 5-46.

817 runs at 18.56; 1 x 100 1 x 50

Central Stags: 10 matches, 28 wickets at 29.21, 1 x five-wicket bag, BB 5-47.

136 runs at 12.36

List A (Ford Trophy)

Debut: January 2011

40 matches

138 runs at 9.20 (high score 52)

55 wickets at 27.03 (best bowling 6-19)

Canterbury: 32 matches, 45 wickets at 25.77, 2 x five-wicket bags, BB 6-19

51 runs at 4.63

Central Stags: 8 matches, 10 wickets at 32.70

87 runs at 21.75, 1 x 50

T20 (Burger King Super Smash & Canterbury v South Africans)

Debut: February 2012 (Canterbury v South Africans)

30 matches

28 runs at 9.33 (high score 11)

21 wickets at 40.61 (best bowling 2-22)

Canterbury: 15 matches, 10 wickets at 31.50, BB 2-22

3 runs (high score 3*)

Central Stags: 15 matches, 11 wickets at 48.90, BB 2-36

25 runs (high score 11)

Article added: Thursday 18 April 2019