The Pink Report
Back to The Pink ReportHistory At Cobham
For the thousands of people who turned up in slightly iffy weather at Whangarei's Cobham Oval yesterday, there was more than a chance to be part of history.
The one-dayer between the Blackcaps and Zimbabwe was the first ever international cricket match played in Whangarei of course, but by the end of the day there had been such a good spectacle of cricket that people - including some very high-powered bods in the game - were already talking about the prospect of hosting a test match at the venue in future.
That's a big compliment to all the hard-working Northland Cricket Association people, ground staff and others who made the event happen and successfully navigated all the background stuff and nitty-gritty that goes into preparing the venue for such a big, televised international event under the auspices of New Zealand Cricket and the ICC, something most had never done before.
Once some pesky early showers were shooed away, the game itself was a genuine spectacle. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Zimbabwe sent New Zealand into bat, since that set the stage for a match of decent duration. And so it proved, with Martin Guptill's beautiful striking a highlight before fellow opener Rob Nicol turned out to be the one who marched on to a century.
"Guppy" was kicking himself at missing out on yet another one-day hundred opportunity against Zimbabwe, but he couldn't have faulted Shingi Masakadza's fine catch that dismissed him on 77 (off 80 balls). The ball was travelling like a bullet. Ironically it was pretty much the only highlight of the Zimbabwe team's otherwise sloppy fielding antics, and whilst the New Zealanders also let themselves down a tad by bowling too many wides (admittedly they had plenty of runs to play with), the messy fielding work and dropped catches - a couple of them absolute sitters - were the aspect that marked Zimbabwe out as a side still trying to catch up after what's been effectively a political isolation period away from the regular cut and thrust of international cricket.
You feel for them, because it's clear they're very passionate about playing the game on the world stage again and want to do well. Besides which, it was a sod of a way for Zimbabwean captain Brendan Taylor to remember his 26th birthday. But their New Zealand-based liaison officer John Bishop told me they were also one of the most pleasant international sides he'd had in his care, just delighted to be here playing cricket in our country.
Anyway, back to Guppy, who's clearly in the form of his life - and isn't that great to see. Guppy's athletic strength has really developed over the last 18 months or so, so whilst he always had the beautiful timing, he's now able to put a lot more power into his shots than at the beginning of his Blackcaps career. The thing that strikes me is that when I'm sitting there on the boundary snapping away with my admittedly puny little 300mm lens (I have lens envy), he just doesn't take a bad photograph when he's batting. And that's really unusual. Fluid, poised, beautifully balanced - that's what comes through frame after frame, whereas most batsmen quite naturally look ungainly as they muscle the ball into gaps or follow through after lusty drives.
Check out my photos of the match on our Yahoo!NZ Northern Knights Facebook page.
Guppy made Rob Nicol look almost stock-standard, like an ungainly Clydesdale ploughing through his work by comparison. That's not at all fair to Nicol, whose coolly crafted 146 was a personal high, one of the biggest in New Zealand's ODI history and underpinned a tremendous team total of 372/6. In turn, the team total was the highest limited overs effort by any New Zealand team in New Zealand, and the third-highest in the Blackcaps' international history. Yep, there was history all over the place on this memorable Waitangi Day in the north.
Oh, and Cobham Oval is no small ground, by the way. Nicol hit six sixes, 10 fours and ultimately edged out Jacob Oram for the man of the match award after Jake's punishingly fast top order 59 off 28 balls was supplemented by three wickets. His height (making for an awkward bounce), accuracy and experience was just too much for most of the Zimbabwean order and with the bat it was a glistening reminder of Jake's successful early domestic and youth cricket when he was much better known as a powerful top order batsman than a bowler.
Other highlights? Youngster Tom Latham's second one-day international appearance very nearly produced a maiden 50, after an energetic turn batting at six. Latham swatted and swept 48 off just 28 balls, putting the icing on the cake for the Kiwi fans, who had started to wonder if a rare 400 was on the cards.
Great to see Tarun Nethula getting his one-day debut, too - or more specifically, to see a New Zealand leg-spinner in action once more. He's the first since Brooke Walker… remember him? I was a child at the time. Well no, not quite - but it's been a long time. Nice to have one back as you just don't get sick of watching those bendy bowlers contort themselves at the crease and trying to figure out how they do it.
The weather changed its mind about 50 times during the day, with spectators needing everything from brollies to sunhats, and perhaps a few hairpins in between for the sometimes brisk breeze. But that just stiffened the national flags on a great day for cricket in Northland.
New New Zealand Cricket CEO David White - a former Northern Districts captain who played plenty of matches in Whangarei himself back in the day - was in attendance with president Denis Currie and thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. Let's hope we won't be waiting long until another big day is confirmed for New Zealand's newest international cricket ground.
