Rotorua fan stopping at nothing to watch the Black Caps in the Cricket World Cup final

Cricket fan Mark Chapman will be screening the Cricket World Cup live from a tent in the pouring rain. Photo / Ben Fraser

Huddled in a tent in the middle of National Park, a British-born Kiwi cricket coach will stop at nothing to watch the World Cup final.

New Zealand will face England tomorrow after the Black Caps' stunning win against India in the semifinals this week.

Mark Chapman is the teacher in charge of cricket at John Paul College in Rotorua and it is fair to say he lives and breathes the game.

Chapman came to New Zealand from England in 2001 to play cricket in Hawke's Bay but met his wife and never left.

The fact he would be on a camp with 14 to 17-year-old students for four days was a mere inconvenience - there was no chance he was missing the World Cup final.

For him, the final is the ideal situation and will be an amazing end to what has been an impressive competition.

"I've got my battery packs ready to go, I've got my SkyGo on my phone," he said.

"I'm going to be in the middle of National Park, in the rain, watching it in my tent."

From his perspective, having England and New Zealand in the final was the ideal situation; a great game as well as bragging rights no matter which way the finals go.

"It's a bit of a win-win."

But his home country still had his ultimate loyalty.

"It would be great for world cricket if New Zealand could win it but yeah, I've got to go with England."

England's batting line-up boosted his confidence in the team but he said he could be proved wrong if New Zealand played as they did against India in the semifinal.

With hesitation, he said he would only watch the first few hours and wake up every half hour after he fell asleep until the end of the game.

But he quickly corrected himself and said it would be as long as the battery packs would let him.

And after the game he is sure his blood will be pumping and he will continue the tramp in the National Park.

Fortunately, not everyone will need to go to such extremes to show their support for the national team, with Hennessy's Irish Bar continuing screenings of the competition.

Screening from the coin toss to when the bar's licence ends, owner Reg Hennessy said he hoped they would be able to stay open for at least the first innings.

Hennessy said the pub would screen the game in its entirety the next day from 10am as he had with all other Cricket World Cup games.

The game will air from 9.30pm tomorrow, New Zealand time.