On Monday morning, Ryan Hadley was getting ready to leave his place in Pontcanna, west Cardiff, for the final day of Glamorgan's Division One clash with Somerset at Sophia Gardens.
Chasing 283 to win, Glamorgan were 140 for 5 with Hadley, in as nightwatcher, due to resume his innings on 2. On his way out the door, he was stopped by his two-year-old daughter, Ava, asking where he was headed:
"I've got to go to cricket again today."
"Are you throwing the ball [bowling]?" came the reply.
"No, no, I'm batting today, bub."
"Oh. Are you a good batter, daddy?"
"No, no, not a good batter."
"It's okay, you'll get better."
Out of the mouth of babes, to a reality hours later. With an unbeaten 50, eclipsing his previous best of 15 not out, Hadley guided Glamorgan to their first-ever Division One win at home. The exclamation point on one of the more remarkable first-class matches.
Somerset had established a 125-run first innings lead before 18-year-old debutant Tom Norton's stunning hat-trick took out three of their top four. Hadley's 3 for 28 helped dismiss the visitors for 157 on Sunday, taking his season tally to 19 at 26.05. He was soon back out there to batten down the hatches.
He started out as the straight man while Sean Dickson ticked over against his former county. Dickson's dismissal for 76 ended their stand on 114, but Hadley trucked on, eventually seeing Glamorgan over the line for a famous two-wicket win with the second of two high-calibre shots down the ground.
"Luckily, I figured out how to play a straight drive apparently out of nowhere," Hadley tells ESPNcricinfo. "I've been trying to play a straight drive in the nets for 10 years and always end up skewing to point.
"It was incredible. When I was out there nightwatching, and came back on Monday, I thought anything extra was a bonus, and hopefully the other boys can score all the runs. Because, as all the posts and Twitter captions said, my average was 5 or 4, or something?"
It was 5.77, to be exact, coming into this round. This was only his 21st innings of 20 first-class matches - the majority for New South Wales. He had never faced more than 55 balls, and had faced 250 in his career up to that point.
The maiden half-century took 231 deliveries, after withstanding 38 in the first innings for 5 not out. The 27-year-old has yet to be dismissed for Glamorgan this summer.
Barely 24 hours after walking off the field to a hero's ovation, Hadley still can't quite believe it.
"When I was batting with Dicko, I was like, 'if we can get this to under 100 before I get out that'd be unbelievable'. Then he got out and I was like, 'That's all right. Cookie [Chris Cooke] will smack 'em'. He cut a few for four and I was like, 'all right, he's in, if I get out now, it's okay'. And then he got out and I was like, 'Oh, dear me'.
"It was kind of strange though. I'm so used to having everyone around the bat and they were giving me a single to then bowl to our usual number seven, eight and nine. I'd just tap it to deep square leg or knock one to deep cover and run one, which never usually happens."
A nod, perhaps, to the respect for his batting from Somerset?
"I mean, they sprayed me quite a bit, so I don't know if respect is the right word! They were flabbergasted about my ability to play and miss the ball. I just told them I wasn't good enough to nick it."
Hadley is certainly not the first person to receive verbals from Somerset, who are pushing hard for what would their first County Championship title. Dickson, for instance, who averaged 20.41 during his three years at Taunton, was being asked why he could not show such aptitude for them.
"Dickson was kind of like, 'Yeah, I didn't do it for you because you guys weren't bowling at me', which I thought was quite cheeky. But it was good fun.
"Usually, the shoe is on the other foot and I'm the one getting frustrated, when I'm bowling and having some words. But it made me realise it probably doesn't affect the batter that much. Everyone always says it might lock the batter in, but when I was finally in that position, it did make the job easier. More exciting.
"Some bits weren't enjoyable. I bowled Craig [Overton] a couple of bouncers and he told me he was going to return the favour. I'm quite confident at ducking the ball, particularly in Australia where the wickets are bouncy. But I ducked one to Jake Ball early which hit me in the head, so from there I didn't know what to do. I copped a couple on the body from Craig, couple on the gloves, one on the elbow that went down for four.
"With Migael Pretorius, he bowls a lot in the channel and nips them away. I don't have a cut shot, but I thought if he bowls one there maybe I can try. Two balls later he bowls me a bouncer and I pulled him for six. I don't know what happened to be honest. I don't practice the shot. Just got to thank a good Kookaburra bat.
"Craig shook my hand at the end, gave me a pat on the shoulder and said well done. They dropped me like twice in the slips, and there was a funny lbw decision that was a bit high. It could have easily gone the other way."
Hadley does admit to one jarring alarm in the second session. Having won a bet with captain Kiran Carlson to make it to lunch, he resumed his innings on 18 (off 126) at ease, before a familiar shout from the stands.
"I got a message [at lunch] from Bianca [Hadley's wife] saying they're coming down and I told them, 'No, no, no, you stay away - I've just gone through to lunch with you not being here. I don't need you to come down now and ruin the juju.'
"Next thing I know, the crowd goes silent, I'm facing up to bat and I hear, 'Go, daddy.' Oh no… In the end it was good, I stuck through and got the boys home and they were there to see it all. But at the time I was pretty dirty. You don't change a good thing. If you're not there and I'm doing well, just stay away!"
That he did not face much spin on the final day - Jack Leach bowling just one over, and Archie Vaughan not used - was a surprise, albeit on a seam-friendly pitch. Players and coaches in the NSW setup often joke about Hadley's inability against slow bowlers.
Many of them have been in touch overnight: "There were a few people quite impressed with the ability to stay in there. Plenty of funny ones trying to take the piss. I've always had the ability to block and face balls."
Monday was the latest instalment in what has been a breakthrough nine months for Hadley. He arrived in the UK two weeks after completing his most productive Sheffield Shield to date, with 22 wickets, a southern summer which included his first four T20 appearances for Sydney Thunder. He also bowled the state to a One-Day Cup final with 5 for 69 in the last group match against Tasmania, only to miss the showpiece against the same opponents as Ben Dwarshius and Sean Abbott returned to lead the attack.
Hadley was aware counties were keen on him early in the Australian summer before that cooled. Glamorgan's interest came in March, with head coach Richard Dawson, working as an assistant for England Lions, spotting the 6ft 6in Hadley for Australia A in their four-day match back in December. That fixture also featured Glamorgan team-mates Asa Tribe and Ben Kellaway, who Hadley dismissed in the second innings.
The depth of NSW's fast bowling meant Hadley has bided his time, making his first-class debut in March 2023 despite being a member of Australia's 2018 squad for the Under-19 World Cup. Injuries have held things up; two back stress fractures (one after that tournament, the other at 24), side strains and even a broken foot sustained in the Lions match stopping a drive from Thomas Rew.
For now, things are clearer and happening quickly thanks to this stint with Glamorgan. There is already talk of extending his deal, originally a six-match stay.
"It's a very different set-up in Australia. We play less cricket, less condensed. Especially with young bowlers, they tend to be a little bit more conservative than what they are over here in terms of frequency of playing and rest. But I think the main thing is, traditionally, NSW have had an experienced bowling attack for so long.
"When I was 19, 20 years old and a lot of guys my age were starting to play first-class cricket. I saw other people my age playing and I was pretty dirty, thinking I could also compete at that level. But I think being drip fed into it with experienced guys around me has been beneficial.
"It doesn't feel like I'm that much better a bowler than I was two or three years ago. I think it's just opportunity's presented itself and I've timed the run nicely.
"I'm really enjoying being the aggressor, the guy to throw the ball to when nothing's happening. Hopefully this spell with Glamorgan is the sort of thing puts my name on the map a little bit more."