SETH RANCE has a theory as to how he managed to become a useful in-swing bowler.

Growing up, the rest of his family were all left-handed batters so he was always bowling to a left-hander in the backyard.

“And because of where our ‘cricket pitch’ was at home, for 10 years, I had to kind of kink around the trampoline. So my run-up had a kink, and I reckon that’s what started my ability to swing it in.”

He wasn’t always in teams as a swing bowler. He started out in age-group cricket as a wicketkeeper-batter, but later on, as he got stronger, he realised he could offer more value with the ball.

“A lot of players swing it out rather than in, and I think a lot of my success came because people hadn’t faced a lot of in-swing at a decent clip like that.”

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Rance went on to play 46 first-class matches, 64 one-dayers and 75 T20s for the Central Stags.

"He took 349 wickets across those three formats combined, winning multiple Plunket Shield, Ford Trophy and Dream11 Super Smash trophies in a long career with the team.

He also proudly represented New Zealand A and the BLACKCAPS, playing two ODIs and eight T20 Internationals, taking wickets in both formats for his country.

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Now, at 36, he’s officially calling time on that representative career.

Rance hasn’t been sighted for the Stags since December 2022 when he suffered a lattimus dorsi tendon rupture.

It’s a particularly uncommon injury — specialists told him they only see one or two cases a year in New Zealand, and his tendon is now surgically pinned back to his armpit. The days of firing them down in the rigorous arena of NZC Domestic cricket are over.

“Quite simply, my body’s had enough,” says Rance.

“I gave it every chance to come right, and it hasn’t.

"I still can’t throw or bowl properly, to my former standards, so that made the decision to retire from the Central Stags straightforward.

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“But also — and just as importantly, it was time for me to give back to my wife Suzannah and the kids. They have sacrificed so much to allow me to keep playing over recent years, but now it’s time for me to give back, to be their Dad, and spend that extra time with them.

“They’re four, six, and eight, so they’re all their own little people now and Lachie, my eldest, is even starting to play hard-ball cricket.

“With my trade as a qualified builder to fall back on, the time has been right and I’ve been really comfortable moving on into the next chapter of my life.”

Rance doesn’t want to exit stage left, however, without acknowledging and thanking from his heart the many people who supported, encouraged and helped him along the way.

“The support that I’ve had from the Greytown Cricket Club — the second oldest cricket club in New Zealand; and the Wairarapa Cricket Association, has been constant in my career, and I’m very grateful.

“All the coaches I had right from the early years contributed to my success, and there are too many to name, but I thank all of them for what they did for me

“And I also want to thank the 20 or so people who made the trip over to Ireland in 2017 when I made my BLACKCAPS debut.

“These are people who self-funded, off their own bats, to travel halfway round the world just to support me. Three lifelong friends especially who always said — from a very young age — that they would come watch my debut if I ever played for New Zealand, and they stuck true to their word.

SETH RANCE COLLECTION

“That made my debut even more special to me, to have had them there.”

And the biggest thank you of all is to his family.

“I really do want to acknowedge the support of Mum and Dad who allowed me the opportunities to play cricket as a kid, and, gave me some very timely and wise advice as I was coming out of school to go and get a trade — which I did, doing my building apprenticeship prior to focusing on life as a cricketer.

Team Rance | MBUTCHER

“That’s put me in good stead now, as I’ve been transitioning out.

“And again, a massive thank you to Suze and the kids. They are the ones who have sacrificed so much for me to be away for a week or two at a time playing professional cricket, and I’ll forever be grateful.”

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Central Districts CEO LANCE HAMILTON has no doubt Rance will remain fondly remembered by all his teammates not only for the skill set he brought to the game, but for the enjoyment and mirth he created behind the scenes.

“Seth brought a lot of intensity to the field when he played,” says Hamilton, “but he also brought a lot of humour and laughter — especially on other people’s birthdays, orchestrating the songs and driving the social side of things.

“He formed great partnerships on the field with his fellow pace bowlers, and great friendships off it.

"When Seth and MARTY KAIN were together in particular, feeding off each other, we had two absolute characters in the dressing room creating a lot of laughter and enjoyment — and that is a very special gift in itself that helps everyone relax and enjoy the game.

George Worker, Bevan Small, Marty Kain, Seth Rance, Adam Milne

SETH RANCE COLLECTION

“Personally, I’ve got plenty of fond memories from having been Seth’s team Manager right from when he first came into the team as a young fella.

“Fond memories of his antics and fun over the years, but equally, the skill set that he brought with his late swing, and that dynamic late movement that troubled many batters in all formats of the game.”

Hamilton said Rance had obviously been a great servant of Central Districts cricket, Wairarapa Cricket, and his club side, Greytown.

“He’s someone who maximised his talents and that ultimately saw him get selected in the BLACKCAPS from 2017 to 2019 which was an awesome achievement.

“We all look forward to seeing him around, and seeing his kids charging in as they enjoy their own cricket days.”

A wicket on T20i debut in Nelson | PHOTOSPORT

 

While Rance has formally retired from Central Stags cricket, he’s keen to continue to play locally in Wairarapa, and represented Wairarapa in Furlong Cup and Chapple Cup inter-district cricket over the past summer.

“My next goal is to play in a team alongside my kids,” says Rance.

 

Young left-hander Lachie Rance | MBUTCHER

 

“I’ll keep playing for Wairarapa for as long as they’ll have me, and I want to keep giving back to both Greytown CC and Wairarapa Cricket as much as I can.

“I also want to mentor local players where I can help, which I’ve been doing and enjoying over the last 12 months. I hope I’ve spurred on some youngsters to push on and play for Wairarapa, and who knows where that could take them.”

He even finds the time to curate the cricket pitch for St Matthew’s Collegiate, the Masterton girls’ school whose First XI won NZC’s national Venus Cup this past season.

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“My community has always been huge in my life, and being able to achieve what I have from Greytown was always a massive driver for me,” adds Rance.

“It always spurred me on to push myself harder.

“The other thing that made it special was that win, lose or draw, 10 wickets or no wickets at all, whenever I came back home, the support that I had here was always exactly the same. So they kept me quite grounded.

“It allowed me to relax, knowing that their support and best wishes for me was never going to change. That’s something that helps you mentally when the pressure is really on.”

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His favourite memories with the Stags and in the BLACKCAPS?

“For the BLACKCAPS, it’s hard to go past the experience of debuting”, he says, “but I do think playing back here in New Zealand was as good as it got, really.

“It’s what, during your kid-life, you spent your time watching and thinking about. It still gives me little goosebumps thinking about that now.”

He played T20 Internationals here against the West Indies at Saxton Oval (his T20i debut) and Bay Oval, and against Pakistan at Wellington Stadium and Eden Park, before touring the UAE (to play Pakistan) and Sri Lanka.

Magic moments in 2017/18 | PHOTOSPORT

 

“For CD, we won some amazing trophies. The Plunket Shield we won at Nelson Park in 2017/18, that was a special one. It had been a particularly good year for me with the body, and things were going well. They were incredible times.

“The era with MARTY KAIN — we didn’t know it at the time, but they were great days also and we were a pretty active social committee.

“The activities we did off the park, it really did allow you to enjoy what you were doing. Marty’s a dear friend of mine, we have a special bond, and those times were ones I won’t forget.”

Going to the now-mothballed international T20 Champions Trophy in 2010 (which a team only got to do if they won the national T20 title, the Stags having qualified by winning the 2009/10 HRV Cup) was another memorable experience — even though the side didn’t win a game.

Rance was 23, and had never been overseas before in his life.

“For someone to have never travelled abroad at all to then be on a bus with a police escort and armed security travelling with us in South Africa was pretty eye-opening!

“That was a great time for CD Cricket, to make that competition and be a part of it.”

In South Africa at the Champions Trophy | PHOTOSPORT

Rance retires after a fine career that began in March 2009 with his Plunket Shield debut at Napier, including the first of 152 first-class wickets overall.

Having begun in the era of MICHAEL MASON and JACOB ORAM, he started to really establish himself in the team from 2013/14, working his way up to becoming an indispensable member of the Stags’ attack over the ensuing couple of years.

He took seven first-class bags with a best of 6/26; six four-wicket hauls in List A one-dayers with a best of 4/25; and two four-wicket hauls and a rare T20 bag in the shortest format.

5/19 in the Dream11 Super Smash | PHOTOSPORT

His T20 career best of 5/19 against the Otago Volts at McLean Park in 2021/22 still ranks as the third-equal best T20 figures in Stags history.

His memorable 4/13 on T20 debut against Canterbury back in 2010 - in which he famously did Craig McMillan with his swing, also still makes the Stags’ all-time top eight T20 bowling returns.

Rance’s last match for the Stags, during the 2022/23 Ford Trophy, turned out to be at the same place — McLean Park — where he had made his debut all those years ago.

A few days earlier at Pukekura Park, he’d carted 45 runs off 43 balls for his one-day career best batting, and earlier in the same campaign he’d helped DOUG BRACEWELL set a new Stags 10th wicket record in the format at Fitzherbert Park.

That would be his last national trophy with the team, in a career that saw him contribute to two T20, two Plunket Shield, and three Ford Trophy national titles overall.

Central Districts Cricket wishes Rance and his family all the very best for the future as he hangs up Central Stags cap 257 with pride.

FULL CAREER STATISTICS

 

 

THANK YOU, SETH RANCE AND FAMILY

 

#BEWARETHEMANWITHNOHAIR

 

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Article added: Thursday 11 April 2024