Tour Diary
Embracing the atmosphere
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
There was something of an outcry when the Test venues were announced for England's tour of New Zealand. The two biggest population centres of the North and South Island are Auckland and Christchurch respectively, and they have the two biggest stadiums to boot, but neither city was awarded a match. Instead New Zealand cricket farmed its big games out to the "boutique venues" of Hamilton, Wellington's Basin Reserve and Napier. To judge by the crowd on the first day of the series, it was the most sensible decision they've made in years.
It wasn't that it was a massive crowd, but it was a content one. In this era of quick-fix cricket, a five-day Test is a hefty commitment for all parties but perhaps most significantly the fans. With the plethora of TV angles and multi-media coverage available these days, most aspects of a match can actually be better appreciated in one's armchair - especially if, for one reason or another, the fan concerned is too busy to commit to eight hours in a stadium.
Full postWandering around Waikato
It's amazing what a difference 500 miles makes
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
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Presumably life will get livelier once the cricket gets underway, but for the time being Hamilton remains as determinedly downbeat as its southerly cousin. I find first impressions are generally fairly accurate, so when it transpired that the airport is a taxi-free zone, the nature of New Zealand's seventh-largest city became that tiny bit clearer. It took half-an-hour of loitering and three phone calls before anyone turned up to take us to town. Fortunately nobody has yet been in a hurry on this trip.
It's a peculiar world, particularly for the print journalist fraternity, whose copy sits and gathers dust for a full 36 hours before seeing the light of day, which lends a certain futility to the traditional pre-match rituals. A similar lag is experienced in the other direction. Faraway tales of derring-do, be it Manchester United's tracking of Arsenal in the Premier League or Prince Harry's Afghan escapades, seep into the country under cover of darkness, to be commented upon or ignored as you please, but never shoved down your throat as they are in the feeding frenzy of Britain's media-driven society.
The denizens of Hamilton are happily unencumbered by such a thirst for information. They have more visceral pleasures to keep them happy, such as the great Waitako river, New Zealand's longest, which carves the city in half in the most elegant manner possible. A deep tree-lined gorge separates east from west, which reverberates all day long to the hum of crickets as you walk along the footpaths beneath the city's two main bridges. It's the sort of natural attraction that encourages passers-by say hello to you as you cross - and not many cities can boast that kind of karmic influence.
Full postRivals on-field, friends off
The final of the Under-19 World Cup some some overt aggression and verbal send-offs between teams that got along the best in the tournament
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Most matches at the Under-19 World Cup have been played in relatively friendly spirits, which was why the difference in attitude during the second innings of the final stood out. India were visibly pumped up even before they began their defence and their aggression on the field was
plainly visible.
Several celebrations - the send-off they gave JJ Smuts and Ravindra Jadeja's manic sprint towards short third man after dismissing Jonathan Vandiar - were extremely charged up and none than Virat Kohli's release of emotion after India dismissed the South African wicketkeeper Bradley Barnes off the last ball of the match to win the World Cup by 12 runs.
So what happened? Was the aggression purely a pressure tactic because India were defending a low target in the adrenaline-filled atmosphere of a World Cup final? There was a bit more to it than that.
Full postFans, cameras, attention
Chaos broke loose at the Kinrara Oval the moment Siddarth Kaul bowled Bradley Barnes to win India the final by 12 runs
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Chaos broke loose at the Kinrara Oval the moment Siddarth Kaul bowled Bradley Barnes to win India the final by 12 runs. A sizeable number of fans leapt over the boundary boards and invaded the field to congratulate the Indian players. The organisers haven't had to deal with large numbers right through the tournament and the security was sparse. The players were too busy celebrating a hard-fought win and did not see the crowd coming. Soon they were engulfed. Their thorough preparations had overlooked the best way to escape untouched in the event of a World Cup victory. A look at old video tapes of 1983 would have helped immensely.
Virat Kohli had his shirt tugged. I think he lost his cap as well and security personnel had to drag him away from the fans. Virat had been bursting with excitement moments before but looked shaken as he walked off. It was the same with the other players as they struggled to get off the field on their own, needing to be pried away from the mob by security men. Then it began to rain really hard.
Full postThe furthest extremity of cricket's universe
There is something quaint and wholesome about Dunedin's University Oval, with its solitary understated grandstand and appealing tree-lined vista
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
There is a famous Billy Connolly sketch that might have been written with Dunedin in mind. During Britain's days of Empire, it was Connolly's fellow Scots who led the way in colonising the world, but in his opinion, they wouldn't have bothered to go further than the Mediterranean had they found somewhere cold enough and wet enough to remind them of home. "Further south!" was the cry every time they made landfall, but eventually, having rumbled through Africa, Asia and the Antipodes, they could go no further. And so they stopped.
And lo, they created Dunedin, the Scottish capital of the southern hemisphere. They couldn't have chosen a more appropriate resting place if they'd tried. When it's as cold and drizzly as it was for the final sessions of England's warm-up at the University Oval, Dunedin really does feel like the last place on earth. The closing overs were played out in front of a spartan crowd of thermal-hugging hardies, who wouldn't have looked out of place at The Grange in Edinburgh. It was nice weather for albatrosses, as they might say at the nearby Otago Peninsular.
Full postMagic drains and disappearing puddles
During the interval after the rain ceased and before play began, Wayne Parnell, the South African captain, and the team's media manager stood staring intently at the ground
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
During the interval after the rain ceased and before play began, Wayne Parnell, the South African captain, and the team's media manager stood staring intently at the ground. Their attention was focused on a puddle created by the ground staff, who had mopped up water from the covers and dumped it on the outfield. It was a sizeable amount of water and the puddle was not small. However as Parnell stared at the puddle, it disappeared right before his eyes. The outfield drains so quickly at the Kinrara that a supersopper, not that they have one, is rendered redundant.
The claims from the ground staff that they could have started play in an hour on Friday evening if the monsoonal showers had stopped were not empty boasts. I woke up at 5am this morning and it was raining – a radio commentator said the showers had started at 3am. It rained incessantly until around 11am, that's about eight hours and yet the umpires strode out to call play at precisely 12.20 pm. The drainage here must rank among the best in the world.
Full postWhen it stops raining, Kinrara starts draining
The Kinrara Oval drains fabulously
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
The second semi-final to decide which team would play India on Sunday was finely poised. Pakistan had lost two early wickets chasing 261 but Ahmed Shehzad and Umair Amin were rebuilding the run-chase with a plucky counterattack. Each boundary, every outside edge, and even mistimed shots were cheered by several Pakistan fans. The party ended abruptly with the heavy clouds, which had gathered during the dinner break, bursting shortly into the Pakistan innings. The rain was monsoonal and it was relentless until the cut-off time.
The match had to be postponed until Saturday but if you spoke to any of the ground staff, they said that if the rain had stopped in time, they could have got the ground ready for play in a jiffy despite the amount of rain.
Full postHoping for a big final, and an endless journey back home
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
It's preview day ahead of the semi-final between Pakistan and South Africa so the team hotel is a must-visit for journalists. Step into the lobby and you are bound to bump into players, coaches, media managers and several others associated with the tournament. Several teams were in transit today, some were arriving in Kuala Lumpur, others preparing to leave Malaysia, while a few were heading out to see the sights.
India were scheduled to visit the Petronas Towers and were milling around the lobby. They had just emerged from a tight semi-final last night and were quietly confident, awaiting the outcome of tomorrow's game. If you ask a senior cricketer, which team they'd rather face in the final, most would spout the routine "It doesn't matter as long as we play to our potential etc etc".
Full postWhere time becomes a loop
I feel as though I have been in stasis for the past 72 hours
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
I feel as though I have been in stasis for the past 72 hours. Time has been suspended, inverted, stretched and compressed, with mere snapshots remaining of a ludicrously protracted journey. It all began before daybreak on Monday morning, on the Piccadilly Line in London, onto which I shuffled at six o'clock in the morning, bound for Heathrow Airport. It continued through 13 hours of in-flight poker and serial ipod abuse en route to Singapore, a jewel of a city-state that I have now visited three times, but never for longer than an hour and a half.
Next stop, Auckland. The City of Sails by day; the city of room service and snatched winks of sleep by night. Seven hours in an airport motel were enlivened by a non-functioning room key that refused to let me into my room in the first instance, then refused to allow me to leave thereafter. Then it was down to Dunedin, so far south on the South Island of New Zealand that the next stop would appear to be Antarctica. And then, as I touched down, I realised. The further you travel, the more things stay the same.
It was raining when I landed, but not the sort of rain I've previously associated with the Southern Hemisphere. This was a dank, drizzly type of rain - the type that turns hillsides a lush green and leaves sheep feeling waterlogged and morose. In other words, it was rain that might have been imported direct from the United Kingdom.
Full postNew Zealand's Kanpur connection
There were two players born in Kanpur playing the semi-final between India and New Zealand
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
There were two players born in Kanpur playing the semi-final between India and New Zealand. One was Tanmay Srivastava, India's No. 3 batsman, while the other was New Zealand medium-pacer Anurag Verma, whose family migrated when he was nine years old. And by coincidence, Tanmay bowled Anurag during the final overs of New Zealand's innings and Anurag duly returned the favour by having Tanmay caught in India's chase. Were they aware that they were born in the same city? You bet.
Anurag's family moved to New Zealand in 2000 and he says that he never played serious cricket while he was in India, only after-school games with friends. After his shift to New Zealand, a friend asked him to play for his team on Saturdays, and he's been playing ever since.
Full post