Bill Frindall Column
| JOBS AXED AT FIRM |  | | | HEAD BOWS OUT | | | | HE WILL BE MISSED | | | | CANCER GIRL'S HEADSHAVE | | | | ON AT THE CINEMA | | | | | | |
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My parking idea caused chaos
England's breathtaking win in the third international last Saturday resurrected a tour that was on the brink of calamity.
Defeat after two abysmal displays in Wellington and Hamilton would have rendered dead the final two games, in Napier and Christchurch, and have put intense pressure on the positions of their coach, Peter Moores and captain, Paul Collingwood.
On the eve of this vital game, I joined Angus Fraser, the Middlesex and England seam bowler who is now with The Independent and Test Match Special, and Andy Stovold, Gloucestershire's former opening batsman and keeper who now looks after their development squad, at a cricket evening for the Gullivers Sports Travel group.
Most of our audience had witnessed the Ashes debacle in Australia last winter and feared this tour was heading the same way. We did our best to cheer them up but knew that England's morale was at a very low ebb.
It was vital that Collingwood won the toss so that England could avoid taking first innings when their batmen's confidence was in shreds. Spared the stress of defending a low total, the opening attack of Jimmy Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad gave an outstanding display. Their lengths, lines and changes of pace put intense pressure on New Zealand's batsmen, most of whom had not played an innings for a week.
Collingwood's gamble of using those three frontline bowlers for 24 of the first 26 overs reduced the Kiwis to 95 for 6. Although Jacob Oram and skipper Daniel Vettori led a partial recovery, a target of 235 on a good batting surface with several short boundaries was below par. By adding 107 together Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen appeared to have the contest sewn up but both fell within three overs. With 80 still wanted from 84 balls, England were again vulnerable but Player of the Match Collingwood, with 70 off 50 balls, saw his team home with an array of bold strokes, Owais Shah giving him splendid support.
Within minutes of the match ending a remarkable 25-yard-long caterpillar of metalwork slowly conveyed a vast tray of rugby turf to replace the drop-in cricket pitch in preparation for a match the following day. Soon the South Stand, which housed our commentary box on its sixth floor, will make way for an enlarged outfield and the pitch will be moved from its current diagonal alignment to a more orthodox north/south setting.
The Eden Park ground was constructed on the site of a lake which had originally been formed within a volcano. Home to Auckland's cricket since 1910, only its original wooden pavilion survives the ground's conversion to a soulless stadium and, two decades ago it was moved to the adjacent No 2 Ground where Auckland play most of their first-class matches.
It was this reserve ground that, in 1984, provided the venue for a Leap Day match between my Maltamaniacs and an Auckland Cricket Society team including former Test stars Bert Sutcliffe and John Sparling. It was a tremendous thrill to bowl to Sutcliffe, one of New Zealand's greatest batsmen who, playing his final innings in any grade of cricket, scored a chanceless 63 off 72 balls. Until Brian Lara amassed his undefeated 501 in 1994, his 385 for Otago against Canterbury at Lancaster Park, Christchurch, in 1952-53 was the highest first-class score by a left-hander.
On big match days the No 2 Ground is used as the main car park and, during a later tour, I spent the Friday evening at a barbeque held at the home of the official who controlled parking arrangements. After much falling-over water, I persuaded him to arrange Saturday's cars in rows of red, white and blue to boost England's effort.
The following morning this master plan was duly brought to fruition. Scores of cars were segregated into the three colours of the Union Jack in swathes across the adjacent ground. With the ball holding sway over the bat and runs being eked out a snail's pace, TV cameramen focussed frequently on the bizarre parkathon.
The fun came when many spectators decided to leave the lacklustre Test early. Confused by serried ranks of cars of the same colour, few were able to find their chariots before nightfall.
9:49am Thursday 21st February 2008
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