The Pink Report
Back to The Pink ReportA Seddon Synopsis
It’s the morning of the third day here at Seddon Park in the Yahoo!Xtra Northern Knights’ pivotal match against the Auckland Aces. The cicadas are already burring like little buzz-saws in the trees up on the bank and as the sun streams down the guys are out there playing their high-spirited warm-up games ahead of getting down to business to try to bowl out Auckland for a second time in the match.
Even though there’s a bit more dew around in the mornings now, it still feels like an endless summer. I’m making the most of it, because despite my better judgement I’ve been jumping on the Metservice website again reading the long-range forecasts. I know, I really shouldn’t, it’s bad for my health - but I just can’t help myself. And now I’m nervous. For mighty Metservice foretells that next week in Napier, it’s going to rain all week. And that’s exactly what we don’t want to happen.
Day one of this seventh round of the Plunket Shield was remarkable for the number of wickets that clattered and tumbled all round the country. On a greentop in Rangiora you can understand that - the Firebirds tucking in to bag another set of first-innings points. And further south at University Oval in Dunedin, where conditions often favour the bowlers, the Central Stags ripped through the Volts - then rustled up enough runs to be on the brink of taking two points from that match before the clouds opened and stalled them on day two. But here in Hamilton, there were good conditions for batting - there was a touch of movement early on and a bit of swing here and there, but overall bowling the Aces out relatively cheaply was a big bonus for the Knights.
Assuming the weather and conditions cooperate with them today, that means the Stags will take their competition lead out to 28, the Knights continue to shadow them on 26 after scrambling to a modest lead yesterday afternoon and the Firebirds now draw up level with the fourth-placed Wizards on 17.
OK, so far, so good. Still nicely placed. So why am I anxious? Because there’s only three rounds left and stalking around in the back of my mind is the knowledge that there hasn’t been an outright victory in the Plunket Shield at Seddon Park since the 2002/03 season - this track tends to be too slow and benign for nice dramatic finishes. And, after this current match against the Aces, the Knights play one more match here, in a fortnight’s time. Meanwhile, they will head down to Napier where their last great opportunity to get at least six points ahead their number one rivals could be washed away by the silly weather, if the Metservice forecast holds true.
See where I’m going with this? The points table pressure could be about to rise sharply. And then the Knights’ final match of the season will likely be played at Rangiora - and if it’s green, anything could happen there. The team really wants to get points here and now, rather than chancing it at the end of the season - when it could be all too late.
Anyhow, while I’ve been tapping out those querulous paragraphs, Trent Boult has taken the first step towards the goal in this match by bowling Aces opener Tim McIntosh for a duck, with just the second ball of the day. It’s swinging this morning. Chris Martin, who was the pick of the Auckland bowlers for me yesterday and at one point on a hat-trick, just swung by the press box to catch a few overs from our privileged vantage point looking down the pitch. Why does it swing here sometimes and not others, even when it’s overcast? Chris believes that it actually swings more here when the morning sun is out - it causes the overnight moisture to rise up out of the pitch in a helpful steam, a meteorological microcosm that assists the ball to shape nicely through the air. The impressive thing about Chris Martin is that, with all his experience and canniness, he still picks up good wickets in the arvo, when it’s doing absolutely zilch.
Points weigh so heavily at this end of the season that you can almost see them toying with the psychology of the players out there in the middle. After a flurry of wickets fell yesterday afternoon, there was a visible difference in the way Pete McGlashan and his assorted batting partners approached the Auckland bowlers while they were still 30-40 runs short of the Aces’ first-innings total of 228 - which was a lot bigger than it could have been after an admirable (but darn frustrating, given the Aces had been 149/8 at tea) 100-run partnership for the ninth wicket by Michael Bates and Bruce Martin - compared to the way they ....oh, Jeet Raval has just been bowled by Brent Arnel for 7, Aces 23/2. Cool! Now where was I... oh yeah, compared to the way they almost “relaxed” and upped the scoring rate after the relief of surpassing the mark, courtesy of a cut to the boundary from Trent Boult, the team seven down by then.
Hmm, keen to get back to watching here so I’d better stop typing. A few quick singles to end:
* I’m impressed with what I’ve seen of debutant pace bowler James Baker so far. A key player in Northern Districts’ under-23 season this summer, he’s a strapping, strong young lad who had the Aces struggling to score off him and picked up his maiden wickets in the process. Then with the bat late yesterday, when every run mattered, he showed some nice resilience for a tailender, and in his maiden cameo even snuck a handsome cover drive to the fence that was quite deliberate.
*James Marshall is sitting out this game after falling ill, but it was good to see him walking round in the sunshine this morning, looking brighter. I’m wondering if he managed to pick up the virus that was circulating through the Wellington team in Whangarei last week. Graeme Aldridge is also sitting this one out as he wisely rests his back. Backs are important. Great to see his old cobber Bradley Scott back in action for the team and picking up his share of the wickets on the first day, including the key wicket of McIntosh in just his third over. It’s always mentally hard to step back into a side and up to the plate after you’ve been left out of it for a while, especially at the last minute, and “Raddler” did a good job there.
* Daniel Flynn was looking good yesterday, getting off the mark immediately with a four. He needs a new lucky charm, though. The catch that cut off his innings on 35 was the best of the season, Tim McIntosh getting one hand to an absolute screamer after Daniel had utterly smashed a wide ball from Michael Bates. Ouch!
* Do you reckon BJ Watling might have slept well last night? I’m sure he did, for although he would have been disappointed to be dismissed for 25 shortly before lunch yesterday, the wicket ended 17.9 consecutive hours on the field for the stylish opener over the last two games, carrying his bat in the last game in Whangarei and fielding in between. And in between there was no rest for the guy, with a five-hour minivan journey back to Hamilton and the annual Northern Districts golf day at Lochiel on Saturday. So I think I’ll let him off!
* And spare a thought for his opening colleague Brad Wilson, who’s continued his excellent workmanship in this game with 71 in the first innings. Brad seems to have a truckload of composure and without being showy - I can tell you he’s one of the most difficult batsmen out there to photograph, because even on a cover drive there’s scarcely a flourish - simply gets on with the business of scoring runs and getting the ball to the pickets. He fell just 29 runs short of the very rare achievement of three centuries from three games. Of course, he’s still got one more shot at it in the second innings. Fingers and toes crossed the game keeps rolling nicely from here - and we get the first outright victory at Seddon in eight years. It’s cricket, remember.... anything could happen.
Speaking of which, the third wicket has just fallen, de Boorder lbw to Bradley Scott. Aces under pressure now at 47/3. Go team!!
