With a game shaped by years of experience playing in Australia during his youth, New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell looms as a key cog in the Black Caps World Cup run
Kiwi's Aussie connection has Mitchell feeling right at home
Daryl Mitchell may have lived in Perth for five of his formative years, but never once did he consider himself Australian.
While the Kiwi allrounder's rise through the school and grade ranks in Western Australia included sharing the field with several future Aussie representatives in Marcus Stoinis, Marcus Harris and Andrew Tye, he jumped at the first opportunity to move back across the Tasman.
"I've always been a Kiwi," Mitchell told cricket.com.au ahead of the World Cup. "That's something I'm very proud of.
Image Id: 8BA90A4AB2304105B2E5626F746F2275 Image Caption: Mitchell flicks to the leg-side during his critical partnership with Glenn Phillips against Sri Lanka // Getty"It was always the dream to come back and play for New Zealand at some point. Once the opportunity came about, it was definitely a no-brainer for me."
During his three years with Hale (school cricket) and two years with Scarborough (club cricket), Mitchell also played for the Western Australia Under 19s, Under 23s and the Australian Centre of Excellence, which was part of a Futures League T20 competition.
Strong performances there led to a contract offer coming his way from his home side Northern Districts, which he gleefully accepted.
But he had to wait until age 27 his first chance to sport the silver fern and for the next few seasons was in and out of the national team in all three formats.
That was until the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, where he established himself as one of New Zealand's most important players.
Such is his importance to this current set-up, even a fractured hand two weeks out from this year's tournament didn't stop the Black Caps' brains trust from picking the 31-year-old, even though they knew he was all but certain to miss New Zealand's first match against the Aussies in Sydney.
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The high school switch to Australia wasn't planned.
As a teenager, Mitchell and his family moved to Western Australia in 2006 when father, John, got the position of head coach of the Western Force rugby union side.
This was a regular thing for the Mitchells, as John's burgeoning reputation as rugby head honcho had five years earlier seen him take the reins of the revered New Zealand All Blacks.
But a semi-final loss to Australia at the 2003 Rugby World Cup resulted in an ugly exit from the role, and seeking a fresh challenge in 2006 John took his family from New Zealand's north island to the far side of Australia to lead the Force.