Rain and cricket part of New Zealand’s cunning plan

Aseemingly unpleasant chap by the name of Husan Randhawa upset a good many Kiwi cricket fans on the increasingly toxic social media during the week. He took umbrage at our climate for having the audacity to rain out the onedayer between the Black Caps and India at Hamilton.

By his logic, NZ Cricket must have indulged in a bit of rain-making to burst a few clouds that day.

I quote: ‘‘Shame on your NZ . . . How you guy [sic] even think of having a cricket team with this kind of weather. Please give up and don’t waste india [sic] time by calling them to sit in rain . . . useless country.’’

Please, Husan – take a deep breath. It was just a rainout; they happen and we know it hurt because India were one down in the series at the time.

We also know that in India, bookies take bets on games that are interrupted by rain, by a swarm of horned cockroaches or that are washed out.

Many of us still haven’t forgiven NZ Cricket for shovelling the cricket coverage onto Spark Sport, but even we know NZC doesn’t possess heavenly powers when it comes to cloudbursts.

As recently as October, India incurred much loss of life from the country’s massive floods. Perhaps we can blame India for agreeing to tour here in November when our spring weather is notoriously wet and when farmers’ paddocks take priority. Rain has so often been the way in Manawatū in November when trying optimistically to get club cricket going.

Perhaps Mr Husan should direct bile at Australia, who failed to provide a drought for the Twenty20 World Cup when four games were drowned out.

In the world test championship final at Southampton, while days one and four were lost to rain, New Zealand needed only four days to scuttle poor India.

Our Black Caps are cunning chaps. Win the opening one-dayer this time and then pray for rain at the next two, which happened.

I checked the science and discovered the driver behind the heavy rain in Australia which then wafts on to New Zealand is a version of La Nina from, wait for it, the Indian Ocean.

On Wednesday, rain seemingly tumbled just in time for Central Districts in their one-dayer against Wellington, at about 4pm, and the crowd of about 22 praised the gods.

The torrents had been forecast and with the Stags in the cactus at 68 for eight with only 18.4 overs bowled, down it came and on raced the tractor with the covers, at too fast a clip for my liking.

Unfortunately for Central Districts, the clouds hosed off away towards Hawke’s

Bay while Wellington, defending a mere

170, went on to bowl CD out for 120 in just the 26th over. It was free entry so we couldn’t even demand a refund.

Doug Bracewell’s late 59 saved total embarrassment for the home team.

There was a time when 50-over matches at Fitzherbert Park were the real crowd-pullers. Now they are a format that seems to have got lost, even if they more resemble cricket than the bash-wallop that is Twenty20.

While Manawatū always rejoice at being allocated one-dayers, now the 50-over fixtures seem just another stop on the provincial circuit.

Perhaps a weekender would have pulled the punters or some advance publicity because no-one seemed to know the game was on.

Central Districts fielded almost a full team of former and sort-of current Black Caps in Dane Cleaver, Will

Young, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner, Tom Bruce, Ajaz Patel, Bracewell and Seth Rance.

It all went bung when Young and Taylor were despatched for ducks, two of 34-year-old pace bowler Ollie Newton’s six victims. Young survived only two balls and Taylor one before being skittled by a peach.

Cleaver was the best of the top order by a mile with his 33 off 29 balls.

When his willow hits ball, it stays hit and his best were fours off well-timed cover drives. Surely his return to the Black Caps is nigh.

We’re not so familiar with provincial cricket these days and so a tall, swarthy Wellington medium-pacer by the name of Matthew Snedden took our eye because of his surname on Wednesday.

It turns out he switched from Auckland, is the son of former New Zealand player Martin Snedden, and is the first fourth-generation first-class player in New Zealand history.

Meanwhile, the CD Stags and Hinds will get to play Super Smash Twenty20s at Fitzherbert Park on Tuesday, December 27, and that should draw the masses as they did last year. Manawatū Cricket should go ahead and independently publicise those games.

Another Plunket Shield four-dayer has since been moved to Palmerston North against Otago between March 21 and 24, and traditionally the purest form has never drawn the fans.