New Zealander Small plays down wonder catch

New Zealand teenager Bevan Small, whose wonder catch catapulted him to global celebrity, has played down the feat saying his focus is on making the first eleven of his provincial cricket team.

New Zealand teenager Bevan Small, whose wonder catch catapulted him to global celebrity, has played down the feat saying his focus is on making the first eleven of his provincial cricket team.

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The video clip of Small's acrobatic catch for the Central Stags against the Northern Knights has gone viral on YouTube with more than a million hits, and has been replayed on television and websites around the world.

In England, The Guardian newspaper said the catch was "perhaps the greatest in the history of cricket" while the US-based Huffington Post said it could "be the most amazing (and for many, only) cricket catch you'll ever see".

But the 19-year-old said on Thursday he felt everyone was "getting a little bit carried away" with his role in the spectacular catch.

"The more you hear about it, the less you want to talk about it," the unassuming teen told the Manawatu Standard newspaper.

He was on the field as a substitute when batsman Brad Wilson belted a delivery for what seemed a certain six.

Small jumped high for the catch but as he was falling over the boundary line he flicked the ball back to team-mate Michael Mason who dived to grasp the ball and complete the dismissal.

"It was an instant reaction thing. If I had held onto it, it would've been six," he said.

But despite all the adulation, Small said what he really wanted was to graduate from being the 12th man to holding down a regular place in the starting 11.