Cricket: New Zealand stick together to the end

By Richard Boock

The New Zealand cricketers needed precisely the stuff that was used to hold the Eden Park pitch together before securing an honourable draw in the first test against South Africa yesterday: a ton of adhesion.

The Kiwis saw off the threat of the South African bowlers to end the final day at 244 for three after playing for five days on a pitch which might been sponsored by Bostik.

Nullified by the low, paceless surface, the tourists' pace attack was rendered largely harmless, with Matt Horne, Roger Twose and Nathan Astle all passing the 50 mark, New Zealand saving the day with seven wickets up their sleeve.

Horne completed a handy double after scoring 93 in the first innings, bringing up his fourth test 50 in 150 minutes, Twose grafted for 239 minutes over 65, his fifth test 50 arriving in 187 minutes, while Astle was unbeaten on 69 at the close after bringing up his sixth test 50 in 91 minutes.

With New Zealand appearing to be safe midway through the day, attention turned to the continuing saga of the Eden Park pitch, which was glued together to prevent its grassless surface from breaking up.

The technique is not unheard of in New Zealand, but it invariably ends up favouring the batsmen, as Pakistan found out when amassing 616 for five on a glued Eden Park pitch in 1988-89, or as Canterbury discovered while knocking up 777 against Otago in 1996-97 on a Lancaster Park pitch that contained about 30 litres of PVC glue.

First troubled by a late strike with their couch grass, Eden Park groundstaff had then to deal with a fungus in their rye grass, and the resulting mess copped some heavy flak from stakeholders, including a recent burst from New Zealand Cricket's mouthpiece, Chris Doig.

However, South African coach Bob Woolmer and captain Hansie Cronje have both defended the surface, conceding that it was unusual but up to test standard.

"It's not fair to blame the wicket," Cronje said after stumps were drawn last night. "We took 10 wickets in the first innings and I hoped we might have taken more in the second.

"If Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill had been bowling on that pitch things might have been different. I wasn't entirely happy with the way we bowled today, not as much with our pace bowlers as Paul Adams."

Whatever conditions will be for the second test in Christchurch (starting a week today) is still uncertain, but New Zealand captain Dion Nash suggested people should not get carried away in their search for good grass cover.

The New Zealand captain, who said an emotional meeting of the players the night before set the scene for yesterday's defiance, was not exactly hoping for a green-top at Lancaster Park.

"Would you want to face the South Africans on a grassy pitch?" he asked.

Auckland Cricket's chief executive Lindsay Crocker said he was disappointed with the quality of the pitch surface, which he believed changed the match from a test of skill to a test of concentration and patience.

Crocker said he knew the Eden Park Trust Board would be mortified by the ongoing debate, not to mention anxious to produce far better pitches.

Pictured: Jonty Rhodes turns his hand to climbing after fetching a six hit by Roger Twose into the new stand at Eden Park yesterday. PICTURE / FOTOPRESS