Around the World with Hardy(T)Around the World with Hardy(T)
Auckland wouldn't be my favourite city
in the world and limited overs cricket isn't exactly my cup of tea, but
I was nonetheless tempted back to catch the second one-dayer at Eden Park.
Well, it was on the way to Paihia...
It was a fair old walk along K Road, through the debris - human and otherwise
- of the previous night's Mardi Gras, and I arrived at my seat, way up in
the Gods, somewhat in need of a delicious, thirst-quenching beer. Unfortunately
I had an Export Gold instead...
When I arrived, despite the early losses of
Nathan Astle and Adam "Thief" Parore, NZ were piling on the runs
through Young and captain Fleming. Furthermore, I was surrounded by Kiwis
and my day was not getting off to an enjoyable start. However, I soon spotted
a WBA fan who told me about Pompey's
fine 2-0 overnight win at the Hawthorns, and we went down to the terraces
to meet up with Charlie Mellor and the rest of the Barmy Army. Today's contingent
included a girl who I'd apparently danced to Abba (!) with in Christchurch
(search me guv?) and another girl who was born in the same hospital as me.
Spooky. Spirits were somewhat low today. Maybe the long hard tour was finally
taking its toll - Charlie and Alison had also taken in the Zimbabwe leg
of the tour and had been on the road for 11 weeks by now - maybe it was
because a lot of people had gone back to Blighty after the Tests, or maybe
it was just because England were taking a bit of a caning, but the Army
hadn't found its usual voice.
That all changed when England
came out to the wicket. If New Zealand had made a good start, Nick Knight
gave England an absolute flyer. His 84* off just 70 balls was one of the
finest one-day innings I've ever seen. Eden Park rang once more to the sound
of "Ath-er-ton's Barmy Army, Ath-er-ton's Barmy Army" (repeat
ad nauseum, ad infinitum, jump up and down, wave arms furiously). When the
rain eventually came, there was absolutely no doubt that England would have
won with quite a bit to spare, but that didn't stop the disgruntled Kiwis
whinging to us all the way back into town.
So, the cricket leg of my NZ tour was over. Time to say goodbye to my Barmy new friends, invite them all over to Melbourne for the next Ashes series, and pack my bags for a few days R&R in the Bay of Islands...