The Test match is now over, and Australia won by a wide margin. No surprises there then.
I must document the attendance of the Quirke cricket devotees though. Joe and I were there on Sunday, day three of the match, and the Black Caps were already in serious trouble. They had already made a hash of batting, after Australia had shown that there were “no demons in the pitch”, as the people on the telly are fond of saying.
I was expecting a day of attritional batting, and so it transpired at first, though the action did warm up a little later in the day. The top batsmen were not able to cope with the speed and aggression of the quicks, who were sending it down at close to 90mph.
Joe and I were there from before lunch to close to the end of play. We did not sit there drinking from our thermos flask. Joe had his ice cream and chips (not at the same time), and I had my quota of beers. The taxi arrived promptly at the arranged spot.
It was good to fit in the game amongst everything else in the weekend. Joe had already been to basketball practice, and Saturday had been wall to wall cricket. The end of the season has already arrived for the boys as we are away this weekend in the Marlborough Sounds.
The only down side of the visit to the mighty Basin Reserve…… the cost. I am so used to paying $10 to get in, and often children are free. As the opposition was a marquee team, normal prices applied-ouch.
It is now official. Autumn is here.
