As ever late with post but I have been occupied with moving!

So I am writing this sitting in France.

I spent Friday and Saturday, the first two days, at the Basin Reserve. The second day with Joseph. The second test of three between NZ and England- the first well won by England with help of the Black Caps not being able to catch the ball.

Both days were good to watch, more so the first. Sitting on the bank was a bit hard on the backside after two days. The sun was strong but thankfully there was sunblock available at the ground for idiots like me who forgot their own. There were however a few middle aged blokes worse for wear by the end of day one- I am not sure how you can afford to get pissed at those prices!

I was hoping for a NZ win in the hope they could make it to the test match series final at Lord’s in June. Alas- no. England were the dominant team and won with ease in the end.

It was great to go on the field during the lunch break- the surface is like a carpet. Kids playing and adults playing like kids.

Yesterday turned out to be a fine day to watch cricket-in contrast to the weather forecasts earlier in the week.

Joe and I went to a women’s Twenty -20 international- NZ v England. The latter already 3-1 up in the series.

The crowd was reasonable-2-3, ooo? The atmosphere better than that for the men’s match against Australia earlier in the year. A lot less annoying music being played over the action.

England were clearly better and won in a controlled way. NZ batted first and lost 3 wickets quickly to poor shots . Their strategy was poor-trying to emulate the men’s game I think and trying to hit out from the onset. I do not think it works in the same way for women- the power is not there. Just play proper shots and keep it on the floor- like England did.

All thee same- entertaining.

A return visit yesterday to the Cake Tin for the first time in many years.

Hurricanes v The Blues now part of the Super Rugby Pacific competition with the departure of the South African teams.

There were not too many names of faces that I recognised. And it seems there are a lot of All Black players currently having their sabbatical, post RWC, in Japan.

Not bad to watch and a fun thing to do after the shift at after hours. Enjoyed a beer and a traditional fish bits and chips.

Nice time

Day 4 of the First Test match. This was the first visit to NZ by the Australians for I think 6 years.

Day 1 looked promising but the kiwis let is go in the first session of day 2 with letting the last wicket make 100+ runs. New Zealand had a big target to score in the second innings. Day 4 started with 3 wickets down.

It was a continuous flow of wickets as 7 fell with 5 minutes still before lunch. A disappointing performance certainly. But not a surprise. Nathan Lyons took 10 in the match.

Maybe another time.

Off to the Cake Tin on Wednesday evening to watch the Blackcaps play Australia. If memory is correct the first time they have visited in 6 years. For all the talk of a sell-out crowd I think there was closer to 20,000 there. This strikes me as very disappointing when people are not interested for a game against quality opposition.

An the experience…..Not again. I am not really fan of the format but with the annoying music – in between every delivery, and the juvenile encouragement to the crowd to shout and interviews with fans, I will not be back. Watching on tv will do. I will happily just go to the Basin Reserve.

Next up Day 4of the test match at the Basin. More my thing.