Yesterday was two weeks since we arrived in the obviously extremely beautiful city of Auckland. The use of the word ‘obviously’ suggests that is has not quite been confirmed yet, and you would be right. For the last two weeks, it has failed to stop raining!

I exaggerate, but only a little. We have enjoyed one day of total dryness (aside from the residue from the previous days downpour), and the sun was out for most of this day too. Otherwise the weather has been patchy at best. We have managed to drive around the most beautiful areas of the North Shore, which is where we are based. We have also visited the city a number of occasions as well as the gorgeous Mission Bay which sits directly opposite the dormant volcano, Rangitoto Island and the North Shore.

Mission Bay is extremely popular in Auckland because it is the City side of the harbour, but the truth is that the North Shore has a number of bays just as, if not more beautiful, if only locals were more inclined to cross the harbour bridge every now and then. It means that the North Shore has these picturesque bays that remain relatively quiet and uncrowded. I should point out that, with only 4 million people in the whole country, New Zealand is seldom ‘crowded’. Oh for the locals to experience the London Underground or the above-ground congestion charge. They would then, and only then, experience ‘business’ or a true ‘rush-hour’. A journey that takes 25 minutes instead of 15 does not, in my opinion, constitute a traffic jam.

As for the cricket. It would seem that the Kiwi’s will play an amateur Twenty20 competition in absolutely any conditions. I hesitate to call it cricket. It’s more like a scene from the Glastonbury music festival when players slide along the floor to collect the ball in the outfield. A perfectly timed cover-drive, if followed by an arrogant pose whilst eyeing the ball all the way to the boundary, on these outfields means that the batsman has missed out on a quick single before the ball reaches the advancing (short) extra-cover.

This is not to suggest that the standard is not good. It is. It seems very good. But it is a little difficult to judge how good the bowling is especially, when the bowlers cannot run in off their full run-ups for the fear of not actually reaching the crease due to taking two steps back for every one forward. Should they reach the artificial wicket, then the mud from their trainers transfers to the astroturf and thus the trap is set for the next attempted delivery.

The format for the last three weekends, of which I have been around for a couple, has been to play two twenty20 matches in the day. East Coast Bays CC, who I am representing, managed their first win in my first match, lost the next two before the final match got abandoned when even the artificial wicket began to sink into the over-flowing water-table! Although it is at times comical cricket, it is after all cricket. And the other option would be for no cricket to be played at all for the first three weeks of the season.

Next week it is on to regular 50 over cricket when, I am reliably informed, the conditions are taken into account much more stringently. It is the last match on an artificial wicket before the season turns to turf for the remainder of the season. This makes total sense having witnessed the rain since I have arrived.

I have also taken part in the net sessions for the Auckland Aces, who are the local 1st-class team. Unlike in the UK, the professional season starts some weeks after the amateur season. This is to assure the best weather for what is a shorter season due to less teams, but it also improves the standard of club cricket when all the Aces pro’s are available to play.
The different approach to New Zealand professional cricket see only 12 full-time players at the Aces but then a further 10 ‘amateurs’ that make up the rest of the squad. They still have a 2-hour net session, which is what you would expect in England, but each bowler works for longer, and every batsman gets a longer bat. If the amateurs are available, then they join in the session too. My involvement is a huge help to Paul Strang, the head coach, who is glad of the extra bowler.

I hope that future blogs are filled with stories of runs, wickets, catches, but mostly sun and dry outfields!