Fraser Wilson

Otago Country captain Fraser Wilson has never had so much comment and feedback about an innings - one that will do nothing for his average.

In a lengthy career with both Southland and Otago Country, Wilson (35) has made plenty of runs and taken many wickets.

But it is what he did - or did not do, in terms of runs anyway - at Molyneux Park on Sunday that had people talking yesterday.

Wilson faced 119 balls for his Otago Country side for an unbeaten total of zero.

That's right - a marathon innings of a couple of hours in which he did not score one run.

Not one edge down to third man or glance to fine leg. Wilson went to the wicket intent on not getting out and that meant taking no risks.

``I just wanted to save the game. To me it was nothing extraordinary.''

He batted down the order at eight in the second innings in the Hawke Cup match after being bothered by soreness in his left eye, following an incident with a contact lens.

``I was struggling to see out of my eye ... so I had to twist my head over a bit. That just added to the battle.

``Maybe though that helped me in the end as it made me really have to concentrate.''

Wilson said he just played every ball on its merits and did not look for a run.

It was a case of the blind and the lame when No11 Mark Knox came out to join Wilson to try to save the game.

Knox had injured his hamstring in the game and could not move quickly.

``He was hobbling around trying to score a run and we just about made it through but came up a few balls short.''

Knox was bowled with just nine balls left as Southland won by 203 runs.

Wilson said he just wanted to save some points in a close competition. His team won outright against North Otago but had now lost outright to Southland.

To Wilson, a Queenstown geologist, what he did was part of why he played the longer form of cricket.

``The game is just about getting yourself into different scenarios and working it out from there. That's what I like about it.''

Wilson said the side would resume training for its next Hawke Cup match in a couple of weeks against South Canterbury in Alexandra.

And yes, he will be looking to score some runs.