Fans pack Basin Reserve for first day of trans-Tasman test
The fans turned up in droves, hoping for a glimpse of something rarely seen in the past three decades at Wellington’s Basin Reserve – New Zealand dominating Australia in a cricket test.
And they would not have been disappointed.
Alongside the locals, Australians also arrived in the capital en masse yesterday for the first day of the trans-Tasman cricket test match. The Black Caps last defeated the Australians at home in 1993 – their last Basin Reserve victory over Australia dates further back to March 1990.
In the break between play, players came up close to the hoardings to sign autographs. During lunchtime, fans were briefly allowed onto the field, while lines snaked from the ground’s food trucks in the sun with people queuing up for an ice cream or a drink.
Test matches between New Zealand and Australia at home had been a rarity: Australia last played a test match in New Zealand in 2016; England toured Aotearoa three times in that period.
Michael Pound drove from Pahiatua, saying it’s better to experience the game in person than watching it on TV. His friend, Jared Magan, who lives in Lower Hutt, said he wanted to see two cricket powerhouses play against each other.
Kiwis living outside Wellington or overseas have come for the occasion.
Waikato-born Brad Scelly now lives in Sydney, but he flew back with his wife and daughter to go to the match.
“[The Basin Reserve] is the best ground in the world,” he said. “There is a lot of atmosphere here, you’re so close to the action. When you go to big places in India or Australia, you seem to be far away.”
Philip Hadfield’s family of five, including his son, wife and grandparents, came all the way from Auckland for all five days of the match. He’s trying to make his son “a future Black Cap”.
Hadfield had never been to a sports game in Wellington and watching cricket at the Basin Reserve was on his bucket list. “It’s probably my favourite ground in New Zealand. If we had something like this in Auckland that would be fantastic,” he said.
Three generations of the Flewellen family gathered at the match: grandfather Tony headed north from Nelson to Wellington, while son Ben and grandchildren Harvey and Sam flew in from Sydney. The children are now proud owners of miniature bats autographed by Black Caps Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Matt Henry and the retiring Neil Wagner.
It’s going to be a competitive match, Ben Flewellen predicted. He was right – at the close of play Australia had lost nine wickets for 274 runs. Advantage New Zealand.
The family are still on the hunt for today’s tickets, having got caught out by how quick the tickets went.
“We were surprised that there were only 6000 tickets available, not too many test matches are sold out ... but it’s a lovely ground close to town,” he said.
FULL DAY ONE REPORT, SPORT PG28