How often do dreams come true? It does, but is rare! What happened to young Henry Darrow last week at Eden Park is surreal. The young cricket fan was there to watch a match where Wellington Firebirds’ Finn Allen smashed a breathtaking 75 off 33.

Well, young Henry – who was in the crowd – was asked to comment on the knock by Finn Allen to which she stumped one and all with his response. “Not better than Sophie Devine but still pretty good,” he said while speaking to 1 NEWS’ Michelle Prendiville. The young fan was referring to Devine’s 108 off 38 balls last month in a Super Smash game.


To everyone’s surprise, that comment by the fan went viral and was loved by fans. It became so popular that Members of Parliament spoke of the popularity of the women’s game and the impact it has on youngsters.

Soon after he became popular, Darrow could not come to terms with the overwhelming response of his quote. And when he spoke to 1 News – the next time – he said: “It’s weird because I say something and then next minute I’ve gone viral.”

His comments made him so popular that Sophie Devine – ahead of the Super Smash elimination final clash – met her fan. Sophie gifted the little boy one of her Wellington Blaze playing shirts.

“I was really humbled by Henry’s comments. This is what we want from the next generation coming up. Just applauding cricketers, it doesn’t matter if they’re male or female,” Devine said.

Darrow confirmed that the precious gift would go straight up the wall and he would cherish it forever.