Otago players had the day off yesterday.
They were free to go shopping. Free to play golf. Free to head home early.
And mostly importantly, free from the pain that has followed the first game of the season in recent summers.
The Volts crushed Auckland by168 runs with a day to spare at Eden Park Outer Oval this week.
It was the first time they had won their opening game of the season since their seven-wicket win against Canterbury at Hagley Oval five long years ago.
Wind the clock back a bit further and it is clear success in that opening game has been pretty rare — just two wins in 10 seasons.
Part of the problem for Otago is it has entered those seasons a little underdone. The Volts have not been able to play enough on grass in the lead-up to the opener.
But with the development of the winter marquee at Tonga Park this year, the bowling unit has been able to get its workload up and collectively looked very sharp.
The Volts took 20 wickets for 312 runs. Jacob Duffy, who has been on duty with Black Caps and New Zealand A during the home off-season, led the way with five for 27 and three for 71.
But Travis Muller was a close second with four for 41 and three for 28.
Michael Rae, who struggled with injury last season, was another who showed the benefit of a more complete build-up.
There was also a couple of gutsy efforts with the bat. Young left-hander Thorn Parkes (22) scored back-to-back half centuries. His knocks of 54 and 58 were the two highest scores in the game.
His partnership of 97-runs with Dale Phillips (45) in the first innings proved instrument.
Max Chu’s undefeated 34 was also valuable in the context of that innings.
Otago coach Dion Ebrahim described the match as "close to a complete performance".
He was particularly pleased to see the hard work pay off for Parkes. He put in a lot of effort into his batting during the winter.
"You often see a young player come into first-class cricket and they struggle to understand the match situation, or their reading of the situation is a little naive. But he quickly worked out the various ebbs and flows.
"He could attack and, when he needed to, also rein in some of his shot play.
"That was really pleasing to see for a guy playing his second game.
"He is one of those players who just knows how to fight his way through.
"Those kind of characteristics can’t be coached or taught; it is something that is a little bit innate."
Thorn’s contribution to the win was substantial, but the silent partner was the winter marquee.
"The fact we were able to be on grass as early as August 28 was massive. The bowlers were able to run in on their full run-ups and just get their bodies conditioned to that ... and practise as if they were in a match.
"How much did that contribute? A huge amount."
The Volts’ next assignment is against Northern Districts at Bay Oval on Wednesday.
Otago is unlikely to make any changes, but Ebrahim suggested the Volts may add spinner Ben Lockrose to the squad to have another slow bowling option if needed.
