Memberzone | Anurag Verma

What to do in winter - a question many of our members are forced to answer each time the off-season rolls around. 

For Anurag Verma, this decision was to swap his cricket helmet for a hard hat again this winter, which has seen him secure a job with Fletcher's on a massive infrastructure project, that will ensure he has some of the best 'work stories' going around this
​summer. 

MZ: You have a pretty interesting job this winter, tell us a bit about that
This winter I’m working for a company called Fletcher's construction as a site engineer on the Waterview Connection project in Auckland.

The Waterview project which started in 2012 is New Zealand’s largest and one of the most important infrastructure projects to date, with a cost of around 2.5 Billion dollars. The western motorway will basically be joined up to the south western motorway by two tunnels stretching 2.4km in length side by side. Each tunnel has a diameter of about 14m so will be able to accommodate three lanes. There was a bit of media coverage when the tunnel was bored using a large tunnel boring machine called 'Ellis' which costed 54 million dollars to build and ship over from China. The tunnel and surrounding motorway ramps are pretty much all complete, all that remains is the actual fit out of the tunnel equipment and machinery that will operate the tunnel essentially.

This is where my role comes in - being a part of the mechanical and electrical fit out team to make sure all the equipment is installed correctly and is commissioned and ready to go for the tunnel opening in January 2017. Along with technical work my role requires a lot of managerial skills to look after all the trade staff in my team and make sure they are working well and the work is competed to a high standard. It’s a pretty cool project to be a part of and I’m learning a lot every day. Being on a construction site the hours are long with 6am starts but it’s worth it as I’m really enjoying what I’m doing.
     
MZ: That is a pretty historic project for Auckland, how did you land the role and what is the most exciting part about you work
I was lucky enough to be a part of this project as one of Sanj Silva's [CPA National Personal Development Manager] contacts who works for the New Zealand Transport Agency. As the project nears the completion they needed some more engineers to help complete it in time and I had some previous experience working in the building services industry with Beca which helped me land the role. My most exciting part about the job is getting to drive my Ute through the tunnel every day and see how well the work is progressing as weeks go by. It will be cool to drive through it when it opens and know that I had a part to play in the construction.
      
MZ: That seems a world away from playing cricket, how do you feel one helps the other?
Being a mechanical engineer and playing cricket are two pretty different career paths. I find both complement each other well as I have a good balance between work, cricket and spending time with family and friends. I live and breathe cricket so I used to think about it a lot and constantly try find ways to improve my game but I found that going to University and now to work, really helped me balance myself with cricket.

I used to think there’s a lot of pressure playing cricket, my eyes have really been opened working on this project as people’s lives are at risk if something goes wrong, which is slightly more important than landing that yorker in the last over of the game. It does put cricket and life in perspective.
     
MZ: You transferred to Wellington for last season, how have you found the move and what is next for you within cricket?
I felt like I needed a fresh start last year and an opportunity came up in Wellington so I grabbed it. I was very thankful for the opportunity Wellington gave me. The move was interesting, playing with new team mates, being a part of a new culture and getting to train and play at the Basin Reserve was very cool. I learnt a lot about my game and what I need to improve on to get to the next level.

​I think with that pressure of worrying about what lies for me after cricket lifted, I can really try and push my cricket to new heights and play for New Zealand one day. I put a lot of hard work in to get to where I am today so now it’s time to really kick on and not have any regrets in the future. 

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