For the first time since 2008, Josh Hazlewood has walked on to a cricket field to play a country match.
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A balmy autumn day welcomed the Test vice-captain and his Old Boys teammates as they strode on to No.1 Oval beneath fat cumulus clouds, to field on day one of their final-round clash against City United.
It was that match in 2008, when Norths beat Old Boys in the grand final, that also marked the 28-year-old fast bowler's final game for Old Boys, before Saturday. He debuted in first grade at the club.
After the match he relocated to Sydney, where his march towards a baggy green gathered irresistible momentum.
The City encounter is the only game Hazlewood will play, and includes day two next Saturday. His appearance is the result of Old Boys captain Ben Middlebrook and Hazlewood's elder brother, Old Boys allrounder Aaron, having "bugged him" to play, as Middlebrook put it, while he recovers from a back injury that has sidelined him from international cricket. He will only bat in the match.
The type of crowd you would ordinarily only see at a grand final watched from beneath the plane trees along Kable Avenue. Someone erected a Bendemeer Bullet sign on the picket fence, in reference to one of Hazlewood's nicknames.
His is also called Hoff, a sobriquet that seems appropriate, given his reputation as a top bloke.
As Aaron, 29, bowled the first ball of the day, Hazlewood stood in the uncustomary position, for him, of second slip. To his right, at third slip, was Old Boys veteran Simon Norvill, the Old Boys president, who was playing first grade for the club when Hazlewood made his top-grade debut. Norvill thinks the paceman was 13 years old at the time.
Aaron finished with the career-best figures of 9-18 off 20.4 overs, with three of his victims caught at first slip by his brother. Second-placed City made 68, while Old Boys went into the match having already secured the minor premiership. In reply Old Boys finished on 3-107, with Hazlewood 31 not out.
On the eve of the game, Aaron said playing with his "little bro" again would be "special". "It doesn't happen very often that you get a Test cricketer come back and play for your local club," Aaron said.
Before taking the field, Hazlewood, long and lean, said: "I'm pretty excited, actually, to get back here and play with the guys that I played with growing up - obviously my brother as well. So, yeah, it's good fun."
The last time he was at an Old Boys match was on October 27, when he was in town filming a video to promote the $30 million Grassroots Cricket Fund. The fund involves money that would have previously been directed to the player payment pool, and is used to improve playing and training facilities across the nation.
He is the face of the fund - a country cricketer made good, who hasn't forgotten his roots or got too big for his boots; a refreshing presence in ego-driven professional sports.
"I obviously spent a fair bit of time here [Old Boys] growing up," he said. "We're a great club … It's good to be back and encourage a few juniors to get down here and watch, or even [encourage them to] play the game, [which] would be fantastic."
At the first drinks break, Hazlewood signed numerous autographs for the kids he hopes to inspire, just like he was inspired by his heroes.
Bodeen Green, 17, came by himself to see Hazlewood. He attends Oxley High School, the Test star's former school. "My cousin [Mitchell Holt] used to open the bowling with him at Oxley. So I think they ended up being state champions when Josh was playing."
The teen said "pretty much every Christmas, every [family] gathering" his cousin brings up his link to Hazlewood.
Norvill said following Hazlewood's career had been "awesome". The Bendemeer-raised cricketer's appearance in the match, he added, was "absolutely good for cricket".
"I think you'll see quite a few people down here this afternoon, come for a look - just to see a Test player playing in Tamworth, [which] probably hasn't happened before.
"We couldn't be happier to have him back. He's a great bloke as well."