It's rare that Steve Mace's knees don't give him grief these days.
Which is no real surprise considering the workout he has given them running between wickets during a marathon cricket career that seemingly has no end date.
At last count, the veteran Charlestown stalwart had played a record 602 Newcastle District Cricket Association-sanctioned games for his club with 494 of those in first grade.
His top grade debut was as a 16-year-old in a semifinal against Merewether 36 years ago, and during his career, he won seven finals, played more than a century of rep games for Newcastle and featured in a host of NSW Country games as well.
He finally brought the curtain down on his top grade career three years ago but he hasn't packed his kit up altogether.
He still has a run in the local over 50's competition which has led him to his greatest achievement in the game in the twilight of his career - selection in the Australian Over 50's side.
But for COVID, he would already have represented his country. The side, to be captained by former ACT Comets bat Peter Solway, was due to play against New Zealand in Brisbane last month.
The latest advice is Australia will maybe travel to New Zealand next February for a three game one-day international series although it is all still up in the air.
"It's getting pushed back and back,"Mace said. "It was going to be September, then they were talking about being hopeful of playing in December but that's probably unlikely. February is looking more a possibility now. The Kiwis were coming out here but we may end up going over there now. We are just waiting for everything to settle down and until then, we can't really make any plans at the moment. They have told us they will stick with the players they have picked and we'll be getting some games at some point."
Mace's selection in the national team has been a drawn out experience for the 52-year-old after he was first picked for NSW in 2019 from the local competition for the national titles in Western Australia.
"I went okay there too but missed out on being picked in the Aussie side to go to the World Cup in South Africa in early 2020," he said. "As it turned out though, they only played half the tournament before it was called off when COVID hit and they had to come home early."
Mace is hoping to get some over 50's games in locally to "knock away the cobwebs" before too long. Ironically, the Charlestown club will feature two players to have played at national over 50's level this season with Tony Bristow returning home after a lengthy stint living in the UK where he featured in the England team.
