New Zealand v West Indies, day three

The Dunedin University Oval is not often used for test matches, partly because of some short boundaries and partly because it does not really have the facilities to cope with the modern day game. But it’s a nice venue with lots of trees about and is described by its fans as test match “boutique.”

Actually, it wasn’t quite as picturesque as I had read about, with a couple of non-descript buildings and the temporary grandstand on the far side spoiling the view. Tunbridge Wells with the rhododendrons out in June would edge it for me.

Modest crowd of about 1,500 at most struggled through a cold day, shivering in the main grandstand like us, or on the grassy banks by the boundaries.

All that said, it was great to see test match cricket again although the start was delayed by nearly three hours because of stubborn damp patches on the bowler’s run-in. Absorbing stuff as West Indies pacemen battled through to bowl the New Zealanders out for 365 with a hostile Fidel Edwards (pictured) the pick. West Indies closed on 39-0 and with only two days left a draw looks inevitable. Dave

And the winner is ...

Big winner on the day? Myself. I entered a free draw to win a bat (pictured) signed by both teams and won it so my name was read out over the public address system. Fame at last. Dave

Cold at Cricket

We had heard that the day would be cool this morning but warmer with sun this afternoon. The organisers even had a dispenser with free sun block. Unfortunately, we never came close to needing it.

There’s no way I thought about putting a scarf on my list of items to pack, but Gwen very cleverly gave me one as a birthday present, which I opened a couple of weeks back, so was delighted to have one to wrap around my neck!

We were shivering with the cold this afternoon, but with true British grit stayed at the ground until 19:15.

Even Daniel Vettori, Blackcaps skipper, kept his arms out of the cold on a pre-match inspection.

Cricket fans will know that the ICC is trialling a system whereby teams can put in three requests per innings that the third umpire looks at video evidence to question an umpire’s decision on the field - rather like the referrals in tennis. We saw this in action for the first time today, although one was upheld on Thursday.

This is Jesse Ryder who was scoring reasonably before he was out to Powell for 89. While play was delayed, though, some of the team came out to give autographs, and he took pity on a poor old lady at the back (me!) and gave her his signature.
Jean