Hero Elliott gets time off before Sunday’s engagement
THE NEW Zealand team arrived in Melbourne yesterday afternoon minus one squad member – Grant Elliott.
Rest assured his absence had nothing to do with recovering after the kind of epic fines meeting Elliott no doubt participated in as a member of the Pirates club in Greenside in Johannesburg where he once played.
He was given an extra day’s grace by the team management to spend time with his family who were in Auckland to watch Elliott play, but also for his sister’s wedding in Wellington on Friday. Elliott, pictured, won’t be there. New Zealand’s latest national hero, has another, equally pressing engagement at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, in front of what will probably be a slightly bigger audience than the one for his sibling’s nuptials. The team’s training session two days ahead of a match is usually an important day of preparation.
The Black Caps have surged ahead of the All Blacks in terms of popularity in New Zealand, where a whole new sporting culture seems to have sprung up – rugby has been reduced to less obvious coverage – as “crucket” reigns supreme. “No-one else in New Zealand’s cricket history has been able to experience (a World Cup final) so it’s something that is very novel to us all but very exciting,” said Daniel Vettori, who was alongside Elliott at the conclusion of Tuesday’s unforgettable semi-final clash.
New Zealand’s players had to run the gauntlet of “selfie seekers” and autograph-hunters as they made their way through Auckland airport yesterday, upsetting a few American tourists who couldn’t be bothered with cricket or the World Cup but were keen on exploring “Middle Earth”.
In Melbourne it was more orderly, as they got through fairly quickly and with reasonably little fuss. There was a long night of celebrating their dramatic four-wicket victory – including a visit from the South African players to their dressing room at Eden Park shortly after the match. Yesterday, said captain Brendon McCullum, was an opportunity to soak it all in, but by the time they arrived in Melbourne, to also catch up on some much-needed sleep.
The preparations for the final will start today, with a light training session before they all settle in to watch events unfold in Sydney where India meet Australia.
New Zealanders polled for whom they’d prefer to face in the final couldn’t decide. The feelings of the public in that country vary from wanting to face and beat Australia in Australia, because that would be “sweet,” or playing India who many are more comfortable with facing believing that McCullum’s men have a better chance of winning, to the sickening prospect of losing to Australia in the final.
For those in South Africa not in the know, New Zealanders get irked by Australian sporting success, because they have to hear about it all the time. A World Cup loss to them is too painful to contemplate. However those concerns are for Sunday. For the next few days – until the nerves start kicking in Saturday – they’ll be basking in the glory of their team’s magnificent achievement in qualifying for the final – after six previous defeats in semi-finals.