Justin "the centurion" Latif

On Saturday the 2nd of December I went out to watch two of Aucklands top club cricket sides square off in day two of their two day test match. Not alot happened in the morning, ho hum batting, ho hum bowling with the odd flash of brilliance every so often. But it wasn't until the afternoon that I was given a real spectators treat from none other than the prolific scoring machine Justin Latif. Opening for Eden Roskill he assumed the role of supporting batsmen as his fellow opener plundered the early opening attack. He soon became the anchor of the Roskill innings and played the complete openers innings. Patiently dispatching bad balls, keeping the runs ticking over with a number of singles without creating any chances for the Waitakere field, batting so levelheadedly, calm and collected and not even letting a bouncer to the head affect his game. Completely unphasable. Wow!!


It was an incredible display of batting and one of the most complete innings I have seen from a batsmen. He was finally dismissed with a superb c & b for the grand total of 105 having faced 182 deliveries after 4 hours at the crease. Those not at the game missed a treat as the NZherald will tell you and of course all the adoring female fans at the game....if only I'd had my bat at the game to get signed by him, he wouldn't sign my chest. PS: the photos may not actually be of Justin but the similarities are quite striking.