New Zealand v Pakistan, ODI, Basin Reserve, 25 January 2016

Scorecard

The old joke about New Zealand, favoured by those who can’t think of anything amusing to say, is that when you land here you turn your watch back 20 years. Last Monday at the Basin it was, for once, pleasingly true.

Pakistan were the visitors for the first ODI to played at the Basin Reserve in a decade, and only the second since the Cake Tin opened around the turn of the century. The day was glorious, with Wellington’s perennial gale taking a day off along with many of the capital’s workers, it being the annual provincial public holiday. The idea of a separate holiday for each part of New Zealand should have had its day with the invention of the telephone and the consequent integration of the national economy, but it persists, and under the sun at the Basin we were pleased that it does.

It was one of the more memorable ODIs: New Zealand turned 99 for six into a 70-run victory.

In the sixth over of the morning Martin Guptill off drove Mohammad Irfan for six, the ball kept within the Basin Reserve only by the top of the Don Neely screen at the southern end of the ground. Guptill has been imperious in recent weeks, so 10,000 people sat back and thought “here we go”. Two balls later Guptill hooked Irfan, but, supporting my hypothesis that the Basin pitches are quicker this season, was a little late on the shot and Wahab Riaz took a good catch at long leg.

Latham was caught behind, a thin but definite ripple showing on snicko, but Williamson was in, so there was no need to worry. But, though he is by no means out of form, Williamson has come off the crest of the wave that he surfed throughout 2015, and got an inside edge onto the stumps that would have found the middle a few weeks ago. Two balls later Elliott was bowled through a passable imitation of the nearby Mt Victoria tunnel between bat and pad, which brought in Corey Anderson, 25 overs or so early.

Anderson did a magnificent holding job in the World Cup semi-final last year, but circumspection is not his natural state and he gave the appearance of an elephant trying not to tread on the daisies. He fell caught behind for ten, and Ronchi went the same way next over.

Both men fell to Mohammad Amir, who bowled beautifully. Watching him will be one of the delights of the next decade or so. That he was the subject of taunting from bores on the bank was no surprise, and he will have to learn to live with that sort of thing. It was disappointing to learn that at the T20 a boofhead PA announcer had played cash register sounds when he came on to bowl. NZ Cricket was quick to apologise. As I wrote last week, Amir was a kid bullied into doing wrong and deserves the support of the cricket world. If Salman Butt were to turn up, I’d be happy to join in the booing.

Ninety-nine for six it was, at the crease two players who few of us had heard of at this time last year: Henry Nicholls and Mitch Santner.

Nicholls is a 24-year-old left-hander from Canterbury who has broken into the ODI side this year. He has also had a short spell in the Big Bash (for the Hobart Hyperbole, or possibly the Brisbane Boast, I forget which) so can certainly give it a tonk. He hit seven fours here, the first five of which came when New Zealand were only two down. But when the collapse came he changed his game and became an accumulator. It was impressive and established Nicholls as the leading contender to succeed McCullum at No 5 in the test team. He was dropped by Hafeez at slip at 15, a mistake that cost Pakistan the match.

Nicholls and Santner put on 79 for the seventh wicket in 16 overs. Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali failed the “what would McCullum do?” test early in this partnership when he put spinners on at both ends to get through the ten overs he needed from them, or least that he would need from them if the innings lasted the full 50 overs. Had he invested a few of the overs available to his quick bowlers and told them to attack, he could have brought the innings to an earlier conclusion.

Santner was judicious about shot selection. He came into international cricket without an impressive record at domestic level and has much to learn. But he looks as if he belongs at this level and the selectors are to be praised for picking him on the basis of class and potential. It worked for Daniel Vettori 20 years ago and could have the same result for Santner.

When Nicholls was out for 82 the score was 203 for eight in the 45^th over. Maybe the tail could scratch—let’s be optimistic—another 30 to give New Zealand a modestly decent target to bowl at?

No one foresaw the carnage of the last five overs. Matt Henry and Mitch McClenaghan set about the Pakistan attack like pit bulls. It was cricket remade by Quentin Tarantino. Six sixes and six fours were hit in the last five overs, during which New Zealand added 71 runs. Nos 8, 9 and 10 all passed 30, something that had not been achieved in any of the 3,277 ODIs that were played before this one.

The pace of the pitch helped the ball fly off the bat, but also accounted for McClenaghan who suffered a fractured eye socket when a ball from Anwar Ali penetrated the grille of his helmet. He went down with worrying thump and it was a relief when he walked unassisted from the field a few minutes later.

As it was a special occasion the Basin Reserve authorities had splashed out on replacement lightbulbs for the scoreboard, which was unusually unambiguous as a consequence. But the operators can report to their masters in Pyongyang that, nevertheless, they still advanced their campaign of misinformation by taking a perverse approach to the issue of the names of the Pakistan team. In most cases (though not all, notably when that name is Mohammad), Pakistani cricketers are identified by their first name (eg Hanif, Mushtaq, Zaheer). The video screen respected this convention. But the scoreboard listed Pakistan under their last names, so leaving those unwisely relying on it for information under the impression that it was recording a completely different game from that on the screen next to it.

A target of 281 was about par. New Zealand were without McClenaghan, which meant that all five frontline bowlers would have to bowl ten overs, with only Williamson in reserve. Pakistan started steadily with 33 from the first ten overs.

Grant Elliott had failed with the bat, but he is the Swiss army knife of New Zealand cricket, with something to offer in any circumstance. It was inspired of Williamson to bring him on as early as the seventh over. By the end of the eleventh over he had two wickets.

Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam were comfortable enough putting on 81 for the third wicket until the partnership was broken by Williamson, who brought himself on after Babar got after Santner. Hafeez mistimed a drive and was caught by Henry at long on.

Elliott took a third wicket and when Babar fell to Anderson five were down and the required rate was eight-and-a-half an over. Pakistan’s lower order had none of the resilience of New Zealand’s and Boult was able to finish the game with a spell of four for one, which consolidated his position as the No 1 ODI bowler in the world.

It was splendid to have the ODI cricket back at the Basin. In a perfect world, the stands would be rebuilt and the capacity increased to 14,000 or so, plenty for games against most opponents.

For Australia next week, we will be back at the Cake Tin.

New Zealand v Pakistan, T20, The Cake Tin, 22 January 2016

Scorecard

We still haven’t worked out T20 here in New Zealand. I don’t mean in the playing sense. On good days, we are better than most, as shown by the 95-run trouncing of Pakistan at the Cake Tin, following a ten-wicket victory in Hamilton earlier in the week.

What we haven’t got to grips with is the place of T20 in our cricket. Tonight, 70,000 or more will be at the MCG for the final of the Big B(r)ash. The kiwi equivalent, the final of the Super Smash, was played in front of no more than 400 a week before Christmas on a rugby ground in a province that did not make the finals weekend. In marketing terms, touring Jesus Christ Superstar in Syria would be a better proposition.

Clearly, the New Zealand’s T20 should take place over the late December/January holiday season, at the places where people are at that time: Mt Maunganui, Napier, Queenstown and so on. Just as it was until a couple of years ago, in fact. It could feed off the Big Bash in marketing terms and might attract a few county biffers who fancy Christmas in the sun. There could be an auction. Or at least a jumble sale.

This proposal is purely altruistic, obviously. For my own pleasure I would return to the days when the Plunket Shield began on Christmas Day, though that would instigate tricky negotiations here at My Life in Cricket Scorecards Towers.

I take what I can from T20 games, and try to look cheerful. At the Cake Tin on Friday there was plenty to enjoy. Martin Guptill driving is as handsome a sight as contemporary cricket has to offer. As usual, his shots were orthodox, each one chosen to fit the ball delivered. This game confirmed a trend away from the reverse pulls, scoops and other inventions that once seemed about to render the MCC coaching book obsolete. Here, and in such Big Bash as I have seen, the trick shots seem to have reverted to being an occasional variation to the main theme.

As ever, Kane Williamson was everybody’s sensible older brother (his running calls the only hint that he might enjoy a few quiet ones of a Friday night). Corey Anderson’s undefeated 82 from 42 balls was the batting highlight, once he got over an early spell when his timing was out. He took two for 15 in three overs too. Anderson might just be to New Zealand what the New Zealander Stokes is to England: an all-rounder for the next decade.

Adam Milne took three for eight in three overs; he was too quick for them, simple as that. Many of us hope that the selectors will give him a run in a test match on the right surface. Four or five three-over spells in a day is all we would ask. If my observation about the Basin being quicker this year is correct, against Australia in February could be the time, especially with Johnson gone and Starc injured.

Grant Elliott bettered Milne by one run: three for seven. Hard to think that this time last year there was disbelief—scoffing even—at Elliott’s selection for the World Cup. Now he is a national symbol for dependability, a cricketing Volvo estate.

Elliott introduced an element of unorthodoxy to the batting: when facing a free-hit ball he took guard well wide of off stump, inviting the bowler to aim at the stumps. With batsmen now so much more adept at moving around the crease, the time has come to offer the bowlers more leeway, certainly in T20, but possibly in 50-over cricket too. A stumps-wide channel down the legside should be a legitimate operating area for the bowler. Cricket is at its best when bat and ball are in balance.

It was good to see Mohammad Amir back from his five-year ban and custodial sentence for bowling deliberate no-balls for betting purposes. He was still a boy when he was bullied into it, and the punishment (unlike that for Salman Butt) seemed harsh. I hope that the cricket world rallies around him.

If you go to a big T20 match there is no point in railing against the razzmatazz; the music, the lights, the hype are part of the package, and to suggest that it should be different would be to ask that a man carrying a flag precedes a motor car. It is the small things that are the most telling about how far we have come. Here, I was the only spectator I saw with binoculars around his neck, but then I have reached the stage in life where I accept that my role is often to add quaintness to the occasion.

The music was mostly ok, but almost all from the contemporary hit parade. Not until Bridge Over Troubled Water appeared late on could I name that tune. I propose that for the first six overs there should be only two fielders outside the circle and only Beatles and Stones through the speakers.

It was pleasing to see 16,000 or so enjoying themselves, and it is difficult to see a downside to the full grounds in Australia for the Big Bash. But I do worry. How long before the commercial interests start to demand that the best players are available for the biggest crowds and want to make the Melbourne Big Bash Boxing Day game a tradition?

Two ODIs at the Cake Tin

New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 29 January 2015

New Zealand v Pakistan, 31 January 2015

The Sri Lanka game was the seventh (seventh!) of a series already won by New Zealand. Everything now is part of the World Cup phoney war.

The World Cup will define how we remember this season, but for me “the summer of Sangakkara” would be fine. After the test match double hundred at the Basin, the great man treated us to a sumptuous century here, a Shakespearian vocabulary of shots making his bat loquacious. Only after he passed three figures did he depart from the orthodox, and it was somehow unfitting, like discovering Darcey Bussell line dancing.

Sangakkara put on 104 for the second wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan, at which stage Sri Lanka looked set for a total well on the sunny side of 300, but they lost their puff during the powerplay and mustered only 99 runs from the last 15 overs.

As it turned out, that was plenty.

The Guptill question currently troubles New Zealand as the Schleswig-Holstein question perplexed the diplomats of mid-nineteenth century Europe. The question is “Is he any good?”. I think that he is, but continues to be unfortunate in that the only place for him is as opener. A run in the middle order or as a finisher at some point and he would be established. Here, he was out first ball.

That the World Cup squads had to be announced six weeks or more before the first ball is bowled is obviously ludicrous, redolent of an age when the teams would travel by steam packet, but it works in Guptill’s favour. It removes the question of whether he should be in the squad; he has tenure so will be given every opportunity to get into form. Even so, if I were Guptill I’d make sure that I didn’t have a selector behind me when I walked downstairs for the next couple of weeks or so.

Wickets fell regularly until, at 141 for six, the deal appeared done. But Ronchi and Vettori put on 74, including 52 in the powerplay, to bring New Zealand back into the game. However, Kulasekere yorked Ronchi off the last ball of the powerplay and that was that.

It was good to see Vettori back at his crease-wandering, angle-inventing best, but he went for six-and-a-half an over. I hope that the nagging feeling that it is a tournament too far for him proves off beam.

Forty-eight hours later we were back, Sri Lanka’s pleasant blue kit replaced by Pakistan’s luminescent Close Encounters of the Third Kind green for the first of two match series (though series isn’t quite the word for two matches).

While the other cricketing countries have been playing each other in a bewildering number of ODIs, Pakistan have remained in their tent. It showed.

Having been put in (McCullum’s probability-challenging sequence of toss losses has finally abated), only a thoroughbred half-century from Misbah-ul-Haq was other than negligible from the top order, and the final total of 210 was a hundred short.

Yet the Pakistan innings brought us the most memorable cricket of the two matches. Shahid Afridi scored 67 of the 76 runs added while he was in, and took only 29 balls about it. Of course, he’s been peppering the stands for the best part of twenty years, but I had not seen him do so in the flesh before, so had never appreciated the high degree of intelligence and science that he brings to the task. It’s great that there are still some things that you have to be there to appreciate.

This was as far from slogging as Gershwin is from the Eurovision Song Contest. He was not as premeditated as many less successful practitioners of the crash-bang arts. Most shots were a response to the ball as bowled. Setting a field to Afridi when he is firing as well as this is chasing shadows, he finds the empty spaces round the boundary so well.

Mohammad Irfan is Pakistan’s seven foot one left-arm opening bowler. He caused a few problems with height of release and the angle of delivery, and could be lethal on grounds where they have been economical with the height of the sightscreens. But he is 32 and has played only 40 ODIs and four tests, so as a secret weapon is hardly Area 51 material. As a batsman, any aspiration he has to be promoted to No 10 appears about as unrealistic as one to be an astronaut, and he is a liability in the field.

Not that he is alone in that. There was a difference of 30 to 40 runs in the fielding of the two teams. Shahid Afridi’s fury when a boundary fielder declined the opportunity to dive to save a four was as forceful as his hitting had been.

McCullum was McCullum and had a strike rate of 141 when he got one wrong and was out for 17. Another nagging feeling says that McCullum’s golden run is near its end, but we New Zealand supporters are known for our persistence in seeking black edges to silver clouds.

An unbroken stand of 112 for the fourth wicket between Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott settled the matter with more than ten overs to spare. Taylor is making runs again without looking at the top of his form, which only a very good player can do.

Three weeks ago, Elliott’s selection for the World Cup was greeted with disbelief; now, a century, a world-record partnership and a string of good performances with bat and ball (he took three wickets here) and he is the nation’s favourite.

Where does this leave us? People will try to build up a sense of excitement about the group stages, but few would put any money on any other than the top eight teams comprising the quarter finalists. Do away with the quarters and it would be a much more interesting competition.

Sri Lanka, despite the series loss, could well chalk up the three wins in a row needed to take the trophy home. Pakistan look much less likely to do so, but they have the group stages to raise their game. No Waqar or Wasim though.

New Zealand is relishing the World Cup. We do this sort of thing very well and enjoy the attention we get. We also think that we stand a chance. There is more quality in the team than we have had since Hadlee and Crowe, and there is a balance about it too. The selectors can afford to leave out decent players who would have walked into previous World Cup squads, such as Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell and BJ Watling.

I will blog and tweet from two group games and the Wellington quarter-final.

Wellington v Otago, 50 overs, Basin Reserve, 9 March 2014

http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/576/576370.html

I have drawn attention before to the talent of the Wellington cricket team for picking defeat from the pocket of victory. Today at the Basin they abandoned petty crime and entered the world of the big heist. Defeat was locked securely in a strong room located in a deep cave, protected by armed guards and with a security system designed by NASA. Yet Wellington had a plan to spring it that came within a whisker of working.

When Brad Scott was ninth out, Otago needed 37 from 14 balls, and only a single was added in the rest of that over.  Mark Gillespie bowled the penultimate over from the northern end. Some of us have not forgotten—will never forget—the day five years ago when Northern Districts, also with nine down, needed ten from the last two balls of the game. Gillespie, again from the northern end, contrived to bowl two legside long hops that needed minimal assistance from Peter McGlashan to find their way over the wall by the Reid Gates to take the game.

Now it was full tosses that Gillespie served up as the dish of the day. Two in the over were just right for the left-handed Sam Wells to deposit on the bank on the Victoria Tunnel side of the ground. Six further runs were gleaned from the rest of the over.  

But eighteen from the over would have to be repeated for Otago to take the game, which was reassuring; how often has that happened? Even so, the pessimism that Wellington folk carry in their pockets to most of the capital’s sporting events was heard murmuring as Andy McKay prepared to bowl the final over.

Nick Beard took a single from the first ball. Wells got two from the next ball, followed by an air shot to the third. With fifteen needed from three balls, some people—almost certainly newcomers to the capital—were heard to pass comment along the lines of “it’s all over” and “they can’t throw it away from here”. The rest of us were not even slightly surprised when Wells took a stride down the pitch to hit the fourth ball of the over for six over long off, nor when the fifth ball went the same way. This brought up a 28-ball half century for Wells.

So three were needed from the final ball. After resolutions had been passed and the minutes taken at the conference convened to set the field that is compulsory on these occasions, McKay bowled the final ball. Again Wells strode forward and sent the ball high in the air toward the Adelaide Road. It seemed for a moment that he had hit it with sufficient timing to send it all the way, but it began to descend too early, towards Grant Elliott at long off. Had he dropped it, they would have run two and tied the game, but Elliott has steady nerves and held on safely.

Wellington had made 308 batting first, always an impressive score in a 50-over game, but not exceptional on a pitch that appeared perfectly paced for easy timing of bat on ball. The foundation of the innings was a first-wicket partnership of 144 between Stephen Murdoch and Michael Papps. Murdoch dominated the partnership and was first out for 89. I have not seen him bat as fluently before. Papps played an uncharacteristically measured innings before falling caught behind off the bowling of off spinner Mark Craig two short of his century.

The highlight of the rest of the innings was a 31-ball 47 by keeper Tom Blundell, who was quick to take advantage of the current fad in one-day field setting, which is to use all available boundary fielders on the onside, with all the fielders inside the ring on the off. Moreover, two of those fielders should be behind square and standing close enough to each other to dance between deliveries. No doubt this is a rational solution to the increased restrictions on boundary fielders in the final ten overs, but it means that bowlers have to have the accuracy of a tailor threading a needle. Blundell exposed the risk inherent in this approach by stepping back to crash three boundaries through the offside in the same over.

Scott was Otago’s best bowler, so why he only bowled nine overs is a mystery. Swapping the bowling around like kids do conkers is all very well, but sometimes the wood becomes invisible behind all the trees.

A target of 309 needs a good start, and that is what Otago got, barring the early loss of Hamish Rutherford.  Aaron Redmond and Michael Bracewell put on 155 for the second wicket, déjà vu for those of us who were at the Basin in October when the same pair put on 271. Redmond was the more aggressive today, twice introducing a cricket ball into the traffic outside the Stewie Dempster Gates.

When Bracewell was out, caught at mid on off a mistimed pull, Otago needed 141 from 20 overs, very achievable on a benevolent pitch. Redmond and ten Doeschate chugged pleasantly along until the 37^th over when the match turned on a moment. Ten Doeschate turned a ball straight to Grant Elliott at backward point. Elliott is a highly competent fielder and that knowledge should have been sufficient to ensure that we moved to the next delivery without further incident. Once Elliott had spotted that Redmond was hurtling from the non-striker’s end as if the umpire had applied a cattle prod, it was a simple matter for him to return the ball to Blundell, who completed the formalities.

Redmond was on 98 at the time, which might explain it. In October he had become transfixed for some time in the nineties, so maybe the proximity of a century scrambled his head. The significance of the moment became clear next ball, when Jesse Ryder swiped at a ball outside off stump and was judged by the umpire to have been caught behind. Ryder said nothing, but could not have made his disagreement with the decision clearer had he toured the ground expressing it through a megaphone.

From that moment, the Otago innings resembled a man sliding down a cliff, the scouring of his fingernails on its face a record of his futile attempts to slow his fall. Yet, at the same time Wellington were frantically tunnelling through to save them, and broke through only a second too late.

 

Wellington v Canterbury, Plunket Shield, fourth day of four, 3 February 2013

http://www.espncricinfo.com/new-zealand-domestic-2012/engine/current/match/580745.html

376 runs is plenty to score on the final day of any game, even with all ten wickets still standing. That was Wellington’s task at the start of another day so gorgeous that it had a modelling contract and was driving around in a sports car with its footballer boyfriend.

In the home team’s favour was a pitch that might have been prepared by Mary Poppins, perfect in every way as it was, from a batsman’s point of view at least. Wellington’s sole spinner, Luke Woodcock, had been little used on Saturday. Today, almost three-quarters of the overs were bowled by Canterbury’s three spinners. Neither approach was right or wrong. Whatever the style of the bowler, the surface offered no charity and wickets had to be mined for, using guile and accuracy as tools.

Of course, this means that the pitch was far from perfect. A cricket pitch for a first-class match should be in a state of constant evolution from first ball to last, presenting different challenges from day to day, even from session to session. This one had all the variety of Scottish cuisine.

Left-arm fast-medium bowler Ryan McCone made an early breakthrough when Josh Brodie edged an outswinger to keeper David Fulton, who came into the match through the revolving door installed at the Basin by the New Zealand selectors (see yesterday’s post). Fulton is the brother of Canterbury captain Peter Fulton (but no relation of his namesake the former Kent captain), and should he never play first-class cricket again, will become a quiz question as this one day will constitute his entire career.

Wellington skipper and first-innings centurion Stephen Murdoch soon followed, unaccountably leaving a straight one from trundler Brett Findlay that removed his off stump. Decent fellow as I am sure Murdoch is, nobody was sorry to see him go, as his departure brought in Jesse Ryder. This was the point of the day as far as everyone was concerned. If he was there for three hours he would win the game for Wellington, if dismissed cheaply the game was as good as Canterbury’s.

Ryder was soon away, swatting a six over mid wicket off Findlay, then cover driving a four in the same over. He was as harsh on Todd Astle, and it was a surprise that Fulton persisted with the leg spinner. Out of the blue, Astle tossed one right up and Ryder’s drive turned it into a yorker, which removed his leg stump. Some spectators were out of the gate before Ryder had left the field. I braced myself for an adjectival outburst and the thud of bat against dressing shed wall, but none came. Later that day it emerged that Ryder had been signed up by the Delhi Dilettantes (I may not have the name quite right) in the IPL for NZ$300,000 plus, which would bring equitability to the most combustible temperament.

The general feeling was that only the formalities remained and that by mid-afternoon we would be strolling around the harbour enjoying Wellington’s apparent relocation on the Mediterranean. Not for the last time today, the home team displayed fortitude and fought back to a point where the game was close to level pegging. Michael Papps and Grant Elliott added 52 by lunch, 236 short of the target.

McCone, switching to the southern end immediately after the interval, trapped Papps lbw with an inswinger in his first over. McCone’s ability to produce a fine delivery at the start of a spell was to be crucial later in the afternoon. Papps made 65, continuing his good form. Like Fulton, he is being touted as a Test opener, but the same doubts about his class apply.

Luke Woodcock edged an Astle googly to slip and thoughts turned once more to gelato on the waterfront. For the second time, Elliott formed half of a match-levelling partnership, this time with Harry Boam, returning to the game after a day off on Saturday (see “revolving door”, above). After a brief period of consolidation, they too went on the attack—a draw would end what little chance Wellington had in the Plunket Shield as much as a defeat would.

The biggest surprise was not that the sixth-wicket partnership proved so durable, but that a crowd of about 200 was there to enjoy it in the sun. It is not often that the word “crowd” can be reasonably deployed in a report on a Plunket Shield match, and while it was not exactly Woodstock, there was a hint of an atmosphere around the pickets during the afternoon.

Fulton placed strong reliance on Todd Astle, who bowled with only brief respites at the northern end. Astle played a Test during the recent tour of Sri Lanka and is often mentioned for the spinning all-rounder’s role against England in the absence of the injured Vettori. Despite his dismissal of Ryder, Astle was unimpressive. He bowled far too much loose stuff—three successive full tosses followed by a long hop in one over—which he largely got away with here, but that would be punished severely by competent Test batsmen.

However, Astle did break the Elliott/Boam partnership just as it appeared to be pushing Wellington ahead. Elliott top-edged a sweep for 91 with the stand worth exactly 100. Another 125 were needed with four wickets left.

For most of the first two sessions slow left-armer Roneel Hira was ignored by his captain, at one stage having bowled only four overs in contrast to 13 of the non-descript off spin of Tim Johnston. With Boam booming and Kuggeleijn making a confident start with four, four and six from the last three balls of an Astle over, Fulton turned to Hira almost in desperation. He struck almost at once, beating Kuggeleijn through the air and bowling him.

The ever-aggressive Mark Gillespie, who, whatever the situation, bats with the demeanour of a man who has been served a plate of bad oysters in an expensive restaurant[1], put on another 41 with Boam, taking Wellington to within 63 of their target. Hira then produced another clever delivery, one that went on with the arm to have Boam lbw. Boam departed and twenty seconds after disappearing from view treated us to the dressing room explosion that we had expected from Ryder. An oath measured on the Richter Scale and work for the plasterers today, I think.

Ili Tugaga continued the attack, but did so brainlessly, holing out off the impressive Hira for two. Last man Tipene Friday came out to join Gillespie with 57 still required. Unlike Tugaga, Friday focused on defence, at which he looked well-organised, and left the run scoring to Gillespie, who started turning down singles, a strategy that I usually deplore, but which was vindicated here.

A four and a six off Hira was followed by a maiden by Astle to Friday. Twenty came from Hira’s next over, including two sixes high over the head of the man on the mid-wicket boundary. Friday resisted another over from Astle, and with 21 needed Fulton brought back McCone from the southern end. His first delivery settled it. A slow yorker, audacious in conception and perfectly executed. It clipped Gillespie’s leg stump and gave Canterbury victory by 20 runs.

The cricket was not always top class, but as a match it was wonderful. There’s nothing like a well-contested game of first-class cricket and when it is staged at the Basin in the sun it is a glimpse of Paradise. Auckland visit next weekend, by which time we will all be growing olives and oranges in the capital.

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[1] My Waikato correspondent points out that I use food images quite often, and she has a point.

Wellington v Canterbury, Plunket Shield, third day of four, 2 February 2013

http://www.espncricinfo.com/new-zealand-domestic-2012/engine/current/match/580745.html

It is summer in Wellington. Proper, Cider With Rosie, lazy-hazy-crazy, eggs-frying-on-the-pavement summer. Day after day of blue skies and ice cream. A Test match of a summer, not the T20 substitutes we have had for the past couple of years. Where better to be than the Basin, and for a first-class game too?

Five others agreed with me. We half-dozen constituted the crowd when the first ball was bowled at 10.30 (though the possibility that a couple of the others had wandered in for a stroll, fallen asleep in the sun and awoke surprised to find a cricket match going on cannot be discounted).

Canterbury began 43 without loss in their second innings, a lead of 16. Peter Fulton and George Worker were the openers. Fulton is being touted for the troublesome opener’s spot in the Test side, along with most of the rest of the male population under 50. He is scoring runs: 94 in the first innings here, and has previous experience, of ten Tests. I was going to write “previous form” but this would be misleading as an average of 20 does not constitute form.

The problem with the New Zealand batting line up is that, Ross Taylor apart, it consists entirely of men who would be better off at No 5 or 6 on the order. I would move Taylor up to No 3, followed by Brownlie, Williamson, Guptill (who has not made it as an opener, but is too good to drop) and Watling. This would leave McCullum to open with whoever is in form and appears up for it when the first Test comes along.

Fulton moved smoothly enough to his second fifty of the match and, with some fluent striking, demonstrated why he is being spoken of as an answer to New Zealand’s opener question. However, he also showed why he is not the right answer. He favours the onside a little too much, almost giving Gillespie a caught-and-bowled as he tried to work one from too far outside off. Then he was out, loosely driving Tipene Friday to backward point when set. But is there anyone better?

Fulton’s dismissal apart, Canterbury were untroubled in the morning session, reaching 158 for one at lunch. Some spectators, looking at the card in the paper, might have asked “why don’t they put Harry Boam on? He took three wickets in the first innings.” Boam could not bowl because he is no longer playing in this game. But he will be playing tomorrow. This curious state of affairs is because of the regulations allowing the Black Caps management to take players in and out of matches at their whim (the regulations don’t actually say “whim” but it’s a fair summary). So here the two keepers, Luke Ronchi of Wellington and Tom Latham of Canterbury, are being withdrawn on the fourth day so that they can travel to Whangarei to play in the tour opener against an England XI (this is the correct term for a non-international fixture by the way). I can just about put up with that, albeit it sneeringly.

But Grant Elliott swanning in fashionably late on the third day (which is why Boam dropped out today) is intolerable. The powers that be seem to think that our international cricketers need to be rested as much as the average granny, and that Elliott could not stand four days under the harsh Wellington sun a mere week after returning from South Africa. At least Elliott gets two days’ play. James Franklin, present today, gets no game time at all.

Jeetan Patel was also at the Basin, but did not play, for different reasons. He has taken a lot of criticism for his less-than-steadfast approach to the South African quicks. In the First World War he would have been shot for cowardice. But so what? He is picked as a spinner. Patel is more highly valued in Warwickshire, for whom he was a key member of their Championship-winning side last year. With Vettori out for the Tests, New Zealand need all their spinners to be doing as much bowling as possible. In fact, the more all the international players can play the better, but this would be dismissed as laughably old-fashioned by John Buchanan and his acolytes, I have no doubt.

After lunch Mark Gillespie returned having bowled a long, tidy, if unthreatening spell in the morning. He was rewarded with the wicket of Stewart, bowled by an outswinger. On the boundary in front of me Gillespie explained to Wellington coach Jamie Siddons that he was swinging it both ways, possibly at the same time. He had an outstanding Test at the Basin against South Africa last year, but has not featured since, because of injury and the mysterious way in which the national selectors move at times. His day may have gone, though he would do a job if called upon against England.

Dean Brownlie, the best batsman in the recent Test debacle in South Africa, was next in. I had not seen much of Brownlie, so was looking forward to his innings. He proceeded tidily to 25, when he top-edged a hook off Tipene Friday and was caught at mid off.

At the other end, George Worker moved towards the second century of his career efficiently, if edgily at times. No doubt he will be propelled into the Test team by some pundits. His innings was not that compelling, but he may be a contender soon enough. At 107 he edged Friday to slip where Jesse Ryder—who else?—took a spectacular catch, the best bit of cricket of the day. My plan to seduce Ryder into an international return by way of fast food appears to have failed. His catches, as well as his runs, will be missed.

Tipene Friday removed Brent Findlay next ball, finishing with a career-best four for 67. Friday makes good use of a tall and solid frame. He bowls off a 20-pace run up, which only gets properly under way after ten paces. Sorting this out will add more pace, which, at a guess, stands around the 130 kph mark at the moment. There is plenty of promise here.

At tea Canterbury were 252 for five. This left the South Islanders with a tricky choice. These sides are the bottom of the table, and need a win to maintain an interest in the competition. Canterbury needed to push on in order to give themselves all day tomorrow to bowl Wellington out on a placid pitch, but in doing so could not afford to lose wickets and leave a target of under 300, or the game would be thrown away. In the final session they were rewarded for being positive. First Latham maintained momentum impressively with 57 from 72 deliveries before holing out to Tugaga on the mid-wicket boundary off Elliott. Astle followed for 37 leaving things evenly poised again. Enter Roneel Hira, who set about the Wellington attack to to the extent of a career-high 57, from just 44 balls, including the only three sixes hit all day. He put on an unbeaten 82 with Ryan McCone, enabling Fulton to declare to leave Wellington a target of 384 to win and a tricky 20 minutes to survive tonight.

Michael Papps and Josh Brodie were there at the end, but Matt McEwan struck Brodie with a short-pitched delivery and looked the most likely to take a wicket.

It was a hugely enjoyable day in the sun. There’s nothing as good as a well-contested first-class game. Wellington need 371 more tomorrow on a Mother Theresa of a pitch, so benign is it. Should be a cracking day.