Rain washes out CD's last chance

Digging one's heels in, pulling out the abacus to figure out the run rates and all that didn't matter in the end.
Rain made the equation pretty simple, taking out any second guessing on declarations and forfeitures in what could have been an intriguing end to the 2010-11 men's domestic cricket season.
On the final day of the Central Districts Stags versus Auckland Aces four-day Plunket Shield match yesterday, not a single ball was bowled as the umpires abandoned the match soon after lunch at Nelson Park, Napier.
Effectively inclement weather robbed CD of their only hope of picking up any silverware this loaded summer, which spilled into autumn.
The bragging rights go to Canterbury Wizards who beat defending champions Northern Districts Knights by eight wickets at Rangiora yesterday.
"Canterbury deserves it because they were more consistent with the bat and ball all season," veteran CD batsman Mathew Sinclair said yesterday after the Stags needed an outright victory to match the last-round leaders on the foundation of a better run rate.
"Our mood was quite buoyant today to get out there but what can you do about the weather," he lamented after the Stags needed to chase down a gettable 308 off 105 overs at a shade under three runs an over.
"With George [Worker] and myself at the crease we were going to play positively to do that but it was not to be."
CD led the shield competition, punctuated by the HRV Cup Twenty20 and one-day competition, until the penultimate round amid a rash of drawn affairs.
But it was their inability to bowl out the opposition in the latter part of the season that proved to be costly.
"In first-class cricket we tend to say that bowlers win four-day cricket, not batsmen," former international Sinclair said.
He felt the CD bowlers, especially the quickies, came up short in the Alan Hunt-coached team.
"Is it their fitness or a bowling load issue? I suppose that's what Alan will have in his good review and what he will also address in his winter progamme."
The rigorous workload, he said, had taken its toll because the Stags competed in the Champions League as defending T20 champions last year before the summer season began in October.
CD's recordholding run-maker reiterated his views earlier this week that New Zealand Cricket needed to revisit how it times the three formats of the code to minimise back-to-back four-day matches.
The other question, Sinclair said, was not whether the Stags were physically fit but whether they were bowler savvy enough to shoulder the workload.
If veteran paceman Michael Mason, for argument's sake, could get through the season with minimum hassles then was there something the younger generation of spittle shiners needed to cotton on to.
Young stand-outs such as Ben Wheeler, Adam Milne and Doug Bracewell spent considerable time on a physiotherapist's table nursing niggly injuries.
"You know, there are guys like Mase [Mason] and Chris Martin, to name a few, who are true-and-true veterans of first-class cricket.
"Mase has rehabilitation after every game," he said, adding perhaps the new generation of fast bowlers needed to adhere to some form of programme to counter the injuries.
Sinclair, like other CD contracted players, will meet Hunt and CEO Hugh Henderson to reassess their season to see where their future lay for next summer.
"I'll be weighing up my options with Alan and Hugh and then I'll discuss it with my family before I make any commitments," the 35-year-old said.
The Stags had their season-ending dinner at a Napier restaurant/bar last night and were to disperse for home today.