Henry Cooper is loving life so much at Broad Oak he hasn’t felt homesick once.

The 22-year-old all-rounder is on his first visit to this country from Northland in New Zealand – that’s the very top of the North Island – and he’s settled in without any problem at all.

A batting all-rounder who bowls some off-spin, Cooper is part of James Pamment’s set-up at Northern Districts and is keen to make the most of his Drakes Premiership cricket education.

“The cricket environment here is completely different to back home, but all the lads at Broad Oak have been top quality,” said Cooper, who plays in the same Association competition as the likes of Hamilton and Bay of Plenty.

“The Premiership is a good standard and it’s a great challenge for me, coming from playing in completely different conditions back home.

“There are a lot more challenges dealing with the new ball, the different wickets and different overhead conditions, but I’m really loving visiting all the grounds, because they all have their own character.

“Travelling around to the different spots locally is just great and I’m really enjoying it.”

Cooper has weighed in with well over 40 runs so far at an average approaching 40, and he hopes to improve on those figures and help Broad Oak push up the table in the second half of the season.

“My primary aim while I’m here is to score as many runs as possible,” he explained.

“The league is very close and it’s one of those where anyone can beat anyone else on their day.

“That makes it really exciting because you know on a Saturday that you are going to get a really good, hard game of cricket and, if you play well, you will more than likely be rewarded.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we have played to our full potential this year so far, but we’ve had a few good performances of late and, hopefully, in the second half of the season we can really hit our straps.”

Cooper enjoys having the ball in his hands, but that’s very much secondary to his batting.

“I just want to expand my cricket and my knowledge generally,” he added.

Drakes League Cricket, Honley v Broad Oak. Broad Oak batsman, Henry Cooper.

“Coming away from home, I’m learning a lot about myself and a lot about cricket, and I think this will stand me in good stead in the future, both as a cricketer and as a person.

“Playing an extra six months of cricket is obviously preferable to having the winter off at home and, hopefully, when I get back I can perform for all my teams and push for higher honours.”

He’s had plenty of advice from ND coach Pamment, who is a well-known figure in the game on both sides of the world.

“I know he’s a legend in these parts and he just told me to enjoy myself and score plenty of runs,” said Cooper.

“I talk to him frequently and he is always keen to give advice.

“He told me it can get tough if you are not getting runs, but he told me to make the most of the whole experience and everything else will take care of itself. He’s a champion and really helpful.”