Around the World with Hardy(T)Around the World with Hardy(T)
After a few days out in the wilds, it
was good to get back into civilisation, if Christchurch can be described
as such. The YHA was slap-bang (unfortunate choice of words) in the middle
of the red light district, but it was reassuring to see the place once more
awash with a large Barmy Army contingent. To be fair, Christchurch does
have some very nice watering holes, especially along the River Avon. The
England players seemed to think so too, as we quite often saw them out "relaxing"
after a hard day's cricket.
Lancaster Park is nowhere
near as picturesque as its Wellington counterpart. Not surprising really,
as it's basically a rugby stadium. The locals weren't anywhere near as friendly
either, as they mistook the Barmy Army's jovial banter for something more
sinister. How can cricket fans dressed as Captain Cook or the Grim Reaper
be taken seriously? Full marks must go to 
the ground staff who diffused a tense situation by displaying
Barmy Army logos and the lyrics to Jerusalem on the electronic scoreboard.
Full marks also to the Lancaster Park Cricket Club, of which Chris Cairns
is a proud member, who invited the entire Barmy Army back to their clubhouse
for beers and cheap meals at the end of each day. "Poodle" went
on to raise heaps of money for shaving off his ridiculous locks, and he
was also a great help to the Barmy Army when he got all the players from
both teams to sign a Barmy Army T-shirt, which was subsequently raffled
for "chariddy".
On the field, the Kiwis put up a more spirited display than in the second Test, and it took courageous knocks from skipper Mike Atherton in both innings to steer England to eventual match and series victory.
Oh
Athers is the captain, he wears the captain's hatAs in Wellington, the post-match celebrations down at the Loaded Hog were pretty wild. The beer flowed, the England players sang an Oasis medley, Crofty sang Delilah, and I even took a leak next to Mike Atherton! And once more, I had to hop on a bus the next morning with a really, really foul hangover...
New Zealand 346 (Fleming 62 Parore 59 Cairns 57 Croft 5/95)
England 228 (Atherton 94* Allott 4/74)
New Zealand 186 (Cairns 52)
England 6/307 (Atherton 118 Vettori 4/97)
England won by 4 wickets