Test discards Daryl Tuffey and Chris Harris had contrasting fortunes on their return to their respective State Championship sides, Northern Districts and Canterbury, at the Village Green today.

Tuffey took the first five wickets to fall including Harris for a five-ball duck. Harris' first-class season's average dipped under 100 for the first time since Christmas when he was hurried up by a short ball from Tuffey, the other man not required after being called up by the CLEAR Black Caps for the Wellington Test.

Tuffey, 23, said, "I wanted to get him out lbw. I keep giving him a bit of stick about him thrusting his pad out, but it was just good to get the top order out."

Canterbury reached 284/7 in perfect conditions at the Village Green mainly due to captain Gary Stead (56) and in-form Peter Fulton (66), who added 130 for the sixth wicket. Their fifties came off 98 and 113 deliveries respectively as Canterbury had its most successful period in mid-afternoon.

Having bowled 27 overs on a hot day on a perfect batting pitch, Tuffey's six for 46 was his first five-wicket haul of the season.

The day's other star, Fulton, hit spinner Bruce Martin for two sixes, one straight and one over mid-wicket and gave no chances in his 133-ball innings. Stead gave an opportunity to point mid-innings off Tuffey, who was not best pleased with his side's fielding.

Michael Parlane dropped two early catches at slip, off Graeme Aldridge and Tuffey, to give 76-run second wicket pair Robbie Frew (55) and Michael Papps (41) lives.

Tuffey told CricInfo, "It's been my luck this season that there's a lot of dropped chances, but with today's six wickets I'm hopefully looking for a few more tomorrow.

"It's pretty flat out there and there wasn't much in it. It wasn't a seaming wicket and you just had to be patient and bowl the right lines and thankfully I got some reward."

Northern Districts used six bowlers other than Tuffey, but it took until the 84th over for anyone else to strike, when Joseph Yovich removed Stead after the Canterbury skipper had scored his first home half century of the season.

Earlier, Tuffey, 23, found life to have Papps caught at gully the over before lunch and Frew caught by wicket-keeper Robbie Hart not long after the interval during a burst of three for none off 12 balls.

Hart is reckoned to be one of the best glovemen in New Zealand and is one of a host of 'keepers who will hope to take Adam Parore's place if he does not tour this winter, as is rumoured.

Tuffey was on the pitch during the lunch break tuning his bowling attempting to preserve the rhythm he had found which gave him more pace and bounce than anyone else at the Village Green this season.

He said, "I just wanted to keep bowling. Rhythm's something I've been lacking in the longer form of the game so it's just good to finally get some wickets in the four-day game."

Mark Orchard, on his debut, took three catches in the gully, including a ripper off the edge of Papps' bat just as the season's leading run scorer was showing his best form.

It was the game's outstanding player, Tuffey, who provided the last action of the day, when he caught Fulton's edge in a final spell of one for two in six overs.

Canterbury's Gareth Hopkins, another hopeful wicket-keeper, and Paul Wiseman guided the team to a fair score at stumps. But how different it might have been if Tuffey had been picked for the Wellington Test.

He concluded, "If I keep getting wickets hopefully I'll be picked for the Auckland Test, but if not in the next Test then in Pakistan. But I'd like to play against England because I've never played against them before."

© CricInfo