Not bad at all. The only thing missing - the Plunket Shield.
Individually, there were some incredible highlights and Otago played some fabulous cricket this summer. With a tad more consistency, there might have been a title to brag about.
But who will ever forget Neil Wagner's extraordinary effort in taking five wickets in one over to set a first-class world record, or Neil Broom's magnificent undefeated double hundred. The right-hander was just the eighth Otago batsman to reach the milestone.
Volts captain Craig Cumming carried his bat for the first time in his career while registering yet another century for Otago. He scored three this summer and stands alone at the top of the list with 20 centuries for the province, surpassing the great left-hander Bert Sutcliffe's haul of 17.
Warren McSkimming took two five-wicket bags against Auckland and played a major role in dismissing the visitors for 46 in their first innings - Auckland's lowest score against Otago.
Derek de Boorder's glove work and progress with the bat was also memorable. He registered his maiden century and scored his second in the next match.
Of course, there were many great partnerships. The Broom brothers, Neil and Darren, combined to add 252 for fifth wicket against Northern Districts, and McSkimming teamed up with de Boorder for an undefeated ninth-wicket partnership of 130 against Wellington.
But for all the individual highlights, Otago finished second and Canterbury claimed the title. It might not have been that way had Otago not dropped the ball, Cumming said.
Otago could, would and should have beaten Canterbury during round four in Queenstown and gone to the top of the points table.
Chasing 345, the home side was well in control but lost the plot in dying overs. The Volts needed 15 from the last thee overs but could manage only 13. It was a hugely disappointing end. Cumming got his side into a position to win with centuries in both innings. But his team-mates could not finish the job.
"I always had a horrible feeling after that game that that might be the difference between second or third and first," Cumming said.
"Had we won that, we would have been leading the competition and other teams would have been chasing us. It is hard to know how it would have panned out ... but that was crucial. We should have won in a canter."
It proved to be the turning point in the season. Otago stayed in contention until the last round but was always playing catch-up cricket.
"As a team our performances are still inconsistent," Cumming said, adding his side had improved a lot on the previous season"We actually played some brilliant cricket at times but where we finished is probably a true reflection."
Cumming said de Boorder was probably the leading contender for the player of the year. He was the most consistent across all three formats and must be knocking on the door of the national squad.
"He is a guy who works very hard on his game and his results have been well earned," Cumming said.
"One of his great abilities is to listen and ask questions. He is driven, he wants to play for New Zealand and he is going about it the right way."
Wagner was the leading wicket-taker in the Plunket Shield with 51 wickets and should pick up the Otago bowler of the year at the Association's awards tomorrow.
Only spinner Stephen Boock (54) has taken more wickets in a season for the province and the South Africa-born left-armer drew a lot of attention with his remarkable deed of five wickets in one over.
"Anyone who gets 51 wickets in a season has done a fantastic job," Cumming said.
"He has learnt how to bowl in the longer version of the game and he has developed a lot of patience and understanding of what he is trying to do."
The key for Wagner has been the swing he has been able to extract from the older ball.
Both Cumming and Aaron Redmond scored back-to-back 100s in a match but Neil Broom's 203 not out was the best innings of the season.
He joined Bert Sutcliffe (5), Roger Blunt (2), JR Reid, Matt Horne, Ken Rutherford, Ian Rutherford and Rob Lawson as the only Otago batsmen to reach the milestone.
"He probably didn't finish the season as well as he would like, but he is the key to our batting future," Cumming said.
"He is the guy that is going to win us competitions."
