Cricket: Glory days of the beige brigade

By ELEANOR BLACK and BERNARD ORSMAN

It all started when Wellington student Mike Lane scored a 1981 New Zealand one-day cricket uniform in England.

The £20 collector's item, a rather unflattering beige and brown T-shirt and polyester trousers combination once worn by New Zealand test player Bruce Edgar, has become a talking point at international cricket matches.

"Mike got one and we all got jealous," said lawyer Paul Ford, who with two other friends now sports homespun versions of the uniform that Mr Lane whipped up on a sewing machine in his flat.

The beige outfit, sported by the great New Zealand team of the 1980s, has become something of an icon as the outfit continues to change every few years.

Yesterday, the New Zealand team playing Zimbabwe at Taupo were sporting the latest incarnation of the one-day ensemble - a jet black uniform, a far cry from the whites of test matches.

But it is the 1980s version that has lived on in the collective memory, partly because of repeated TV footage of an irate Brian McKechnie throwing his bat down in disgust, while kitted out in glorious beige, after the infamous Australian underarm bowling incident.

And, say the beige supporters at the Taupo game, it's a symbolic uniform because of the strength of our team back then - Richard Hadlee, Geoff Howarth, Jeremy Coney, John Wright, to name a few.

Mr Lane custom-made his uniforms with beige fabric specially dyed in Christchurch to match the authentic uniform and the brown trim and buttons were found on a scouting mission at a handcraft store.

The brown kiwi logo which sits proudly below the left collarbone is also Mr Lane's work.

"We searched high and low for that tan colour fabric - it's elusive."

The foursome stood out yesterday. Having made 14 of the knockoff shirts for friends, Mr Lane has set up a website and plans to increase production.

"There's a whole lot more in the pipeline. We're going on tour next year - to Australia."

The New Zealand women cricketers sported the black uniforms at the Women's World Cup in Christchurch before Christmas, while the men took it for its first outing yesterday.

The uniforms defy the long-standing belief that black attracts heat - just as Kiwi ingenuity proved the sceptics wrong with the black boats in the America's Cup.

David Stiassny, whose company, Wstar, created the uniforms, said they were produced from a strong, lightweight fabric that transports moisture away from the skin.

The uniforms, which have been tested in the heat of South Africa, are made in a shiny yarn to reflect sunshine and with mesh side panels to improve the flow of air over the body.

Radio host and former test bowler Danny Morrison said he had been a bit sceptical about cricket being pre-occupied with the whole All Black image and going for a black uniform.

But having watched the Women's World Cup and seen the Black Caps in action yesterday, he thought the new strip was superb and great for television and spectators.

Morrison, who first played against England in brown one-day international colours, said it was not the greatest colour but fans would always associate that uniform with New Zealand cricket's heyday in the 1980s.

New Zealand chose the brown strip during Kerry Packer's pyjama one-day series in the early 1980s and it lasted nearly a decade.

New Zealand briefly flirted with a white uniform against black stumps before grey became the vogue.

The team then went teal blue with a large black stylised silver fern across the front of the uniform.

New Zealand Cricket's chief executive, Christopher Doig, said that uniform was not entirely reflective of New Zealand or its national colour and it was not popular as a supporter's garment.

"Our ideal was to try and follow the history and tradition of New Zealand, the All Blacks, the Silver Ferns, the rowing eight and now Rob Waddell," he said.

Women's captain Emily Drumm said: "I prefer black any day. It's an awesome colour to play in, it's our national colour and it brings out a bit more pride in our players."

She said playing in the World Cup with a norwester blowing hot air over the cricket pitch proved no problem with the lightweight black uniform.