One man, a dog and a sleeping bag
The opening day of the first-class cricket season is like stepping back 30 years to when towelling hats were de rigueur.
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
The opening day of the first-class cricket season is like stepping back 30 years to when towelling hats were de rigueur.
A quick inventory read: thermos flasks, three; field glasses lovingly protected in leather cases, four; tartan blankets, eight; chilly bins, two; fold-out chairs, six (one in camouflage colours); cricketers on field, 13, (plus two umpires).
There's few under 40 here. It feels like a Stephen King novel where an unknown force has stolen the young and deposited them in a cornfield north of Rangiora.
No, it’s not a County Championship match in England in April, it’s a State Championship match in New Zealand in November. And, as Dylan Cleaver finds in The Herald on Sunday as he watches Canterbury take on Otago, it can be a chilly, isolated affair. But it’s not all bad:
Most people involved in the game are quick to tell you how much superior the State Championship is now compared to the old Shell Trophy and Plunket Shield days - better cricket, better pitches, better facilities, better player welfare etc.