Bowling at stumps looks a cinch until you try it

Steven Bemrose who was one of only two people who remoce the stumps. Pictures / Kenny Rodger

Cricket's version of the penalty shoot-out is no easy wicket. Just ask the hapless West Indians, whose bowlers scored no direct hits from eight attempts on the stumps in Thursday night's Twenty20 bowl-off against New Zealand at Eden Park.

The Black Caps fared little better - just three direct hits out of nine attempts on an undefended set of stumps. No great cricketing statistic, but enough to win after the sides were tied at the end of 20 overs.

Yesterday, the Weekend Herald had a rerun of sorts of the Twenty20 bowl-off - the first in the history of international fixtures - with semi-professional cricketers, amateur players and novices attempting to bowl a set of stumps at Victoria Park in central Auckland.

On an artificial pitch, members of the Grafton United Cricket Club and passers-by were given two warm-up bowls before two deliveries each.

Of the 18 warm-up deliveries, just one hit the stumps. And just two of the real deliveries reached their target. The captain of the second-grade team, Australian Steve Bemrose, bowling medium pacers, and club manager Adrian Smith each had one direct hit.

Smith also hit the stumps in his warm-up and joked about beating an international line-up, including Steve Gilmour, a semi-professional from Scotland, and a Sri Lankan, Thushan Dodampegamage, whose off-spinners failed to nip back and skittle the stumps.

"It's not easy when there's no batsman," said Dodampegamage, who coaches at the Grafton club and plays in the second team.

Victoria Park groundsman and former cricketer Simon Harvey said bowling at undefended stumps was "harder than it looks".

The cricketers admitted to feeling the pressure with no one to bowl to.

"It's a little bit strange," said Steve Gilmour, a 24-year-old batsman.

Two female joggers took up the challenge. Sarah Mexted, 22, of Kingsland, had never bowled a cricket ball in her life but came close to hitting the stumps on the last ball.

Natalie Lorenzen bowled narrowly close either side of the wicket warming up but went to pieces on the main deliveries.

"The pressure got to me," said the 32-year-old from Te Atatu.

She was in illustrious company. Pressure got to the Windies, once the most feared bowling outfit in world cricket.


The stats

* New Zealand: 9 deliveries, 3 hits.
* West Indies: 8 deliveries, 0 hits
* Herald ring-ins: 18 deliveries, 2 hits