Mark Craig: The incredible story of a debutant hero

Mark Craig

When one thinks about New Zealand spin attack, for the last two decades, only one name comes to mind, Daniel Vettori. But the era of Vettori dusked silently over the last couple of years. The change was so subtle yet strong that the legendary left-arm bowler was deemed as ‘not up to the mark for the national standards’, when the selection for the ongoing Caribbean tour was done.

In this post-Vettori era, another veteran in Jeetan Patel reaped advantages over the last few tours becoming a regular face in the squad. This time though, Patel decided to stay with his family and desired to play for his county side, Warwickshire.

The unavailability of both seasoned spinners forced the Kiwi think tank to go with new faces on the tour to Caribbean, a land where they had registered only one Test victory so far in their history.

As a result, an unknown 27-year-old Otago spinner Mark Craig got the nod from the selectors; a decision which has proved to be a midas stroke on the part of management so far.

Mark Craig is a name, all of us must be aware by now. He is the same debutant off spinner who took 8 wickets in the recent historic Kiwi triumph on Caribbean soil, hence becoming Man of the Match in what was only the second instance in Test cricket history of New Zealand beating West Indies on the latter’s home turf.

Suddenly, Craig is a superstar, a hero for his team. But times were not always so bright for this Otago offie.

A few years back he spent most of his day feeling as if he was going to pass out at any moment. The 27-year-old suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, an illness that had him out of action for 11 months. His days were mainly spent sitting on the couch or lying in bed at his family home in Auckland after he was forced to return home from Dunedin, where he was studying and playing cricket.

At that point, even playing club cricket was far from his thought, let alone the idea of lining up in the pinnacle of the sport, a Test match.

In 2009, Craig debuted for the Otago Volts Twenty20 side. He played six games, but by the end of that campaign there were worrying signs around his health. ''I sort of felt like passing out a lot, though I never did, and I was so tired I couldn't sleep. It wasn't much fun,'' he said at the time.

In a game against Canterburry, which got abandoned without a ball bowled, Craig probably would not have been able to take the field any way. He was not well for some time but that particular day he felt totally wiped out.

Shortly after the game was discarded, he was taken to hospital and it was five months before he was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. He spent nine months resting and about seven of those ''on the couch or in bed'', he told the Otago Daily Times in an interview in 2011.

After a tough journey back to shape, Craig returned to the Dunedin and the Otago Volts squad. In February, 2011 he was finally able to make his first-class debut.

''It wasn't an easy 10-11 months I spent just trying to get back on my feet. Just being able to do general day-to-day stuff was, at one point, a real struggle for me. So to be able to, a year later, get back on the park was awesome and I haven't really looked back after that, which is good. I think other people have had it a lot longer so I was lucky to get out of it when I did,'' he said.

His comeback from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome hasn't been the only battle for the off-spinner, who found competition from Volts teammates Nathan McCullum and Nick Beard. His 23 first class appearances have seen him taking 51 wickets at an average of 39. That average shall improve once he starts playing more at the highest level. He has also been decent with the bat, making 634 runs at an average of 22.

His records may not appraise him much in one’s eyes, but his battle throughout with life, overcoming his illness time and again to make it to the top level says a lot about his character. Craig's ability to spin the ball away from the left-handers in the West Indies batting line-up resulted in sweet results for his side and his nation.

The worst is behind the New Zealander, although he tends to get sick a bit more than most people ''with the immune system being pretty shot” in his words.

He is a fine player who can contribute well to the world cricket with his bowling talents and let’s hope that something like chronic fatigue syndrome shall not be a villain in his journey to stardom.