Storms threaten Auckland one-dayer

The poor weather which has blighted the one-day series between New Zealand and South Africa looks set to continue. The omens are not good for the fifth match, scheduled to be played on Saturday at Eden Park, with a tropical cyclone forecast to hit the North Island in the early hours.

Spectators - well, those brave enough to attend - might have been left huddled under cover, but New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has been left counting the losses. "Weather has affected just about every game but we've managed to get them all played," Martin Snedden, NZC's chief executive, told reporters. "The problem has been that people have been put off buying tickets before the game because they have been unsure just how much play they'll see."

Snedden admitted that the board's profits had taken a hammering, but stressed that things had to be kept in perspective. "I have been watching the news every night and seen the devastation of the floods in the southern parts of the North Island," he said. "What we are going through is nothing compared to what so many people are going through and we've got to realise that life goes on outside the cricket arena."