As chance would have it, England’s match against Scotland was the day after the fourth anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake. Christchurch is the place my family comes from. My grandfather nicknamed me Hadlee, after one of the city’s most famous sons. My parents were there when the earthquake struck. I probably should have been aware of the enormity of the disaster that struck this pretty little city.
I wasn’t. Until you’ve walked through the empty city centre, stopped at the memorial to the dead, seen the condemned Lancaster Park stadium – the Hadlee Stand has already been pulled down at New Zealand’s first Test venue – and understood that homes and offices and shops once stood where all these vacant blocks now lie, it is hard to fully take in the extent of the tragedy. The centre – once beautiful – has simply gone. Most of the people who lived and worked there have gone with it.
It’s incredible that the city has recovered enough to host a sporting event of global significance, albeit in a park setting. In years to come, I’m pretty sure I won’t recall who won or even who played. But I’ll remember – and be grateful – that sport, and something approaching normality, returned to Christchurch.
Brydon Coverdale – Pakistan v West Indies, Christchurch, February 21
Andre Russell walked to the crease with 2.5 overs left against Pakistan in Christchurch. He faced 13 balls, including two he didn’t score runs off. He still managed to finish unbeaten on 42. With hair and beard trimmed to look like Mr T’s Clubber Lang character from Rocky III, Russell decided to club ‘er long. Strong down the ground, Russell smashed four sixes and hit the ball with ferocious power. He had walked out at 259 for 5 after 47.1, and walked off with the total at 310 off 50 overs. The fastest ODI fifty was on the cards, had he not run out of time.
Andrew McGlashan – Afghanistan v Sri Lanka, Dunedin, February 22
The spirit of Afghanistan’s quick bowlers is infectious. Shapoor Zadran, his flowing locks and steaming run-up, has commanded much of the attention but Hamid Hassan – flags on his face, heart on his sleeve – stole the show against Sri Lanka. In Dunedin, he ripped a delivery through the defences of Kumar Sangakkara, pegging back middle and off stumps, and then celebrated with a cartwheel that probably left the physio in a state of panic. It would have struggled for top marks from any Olympic judges but the Afghanistan supporters will not have cared at all that he ended up flat on his back.
Jarrod Kimber – England v Scotland, Christchurch, February 23
Public nudity can go wrong. And pitch invaders are some of the most horrendous bores of all time. But every once in a while one shows such daring, such speed, such everything, that you have to be on their side. The Hagley Oval invader for the England-Scotland game actually improved the entire game of cricket just by his naked jiggle running. When he faked right, went left, and left behind a puddle of sweaty security guards, he became a beautiful naked streak. He jumped the ground fence, ran through the media zone, past the nets and then over another fence that could have, on another day, ended in some of the worst pain imaginable. But as they say, if you are going to slash, slash hard. Somewhere in Hagley Park, north or south, where they used to be a pop-up cricket stadium, a naked man roams. May he never go home, may he never be clothed.
Devashish Fuloria – Afghanistan v Scotland, Dunedin, February 26
A race is on at one end of the bowling spectrum among a bevy of faster men to bowl quick, hurry batsmen, test their eyes and reflexes. At the other end of that spectrum, one man stands alone. In Scotland’s match against Afghanistan, a delivery from Majid Haq was clocked at 67 kph, surely one of the slowest ever recorded. And that, with the wind behind him. It hung in the air for more than a second, leaving the batsmen to fight their instincts and wait. If records haven’t been maintained, they should now, for a man with the gall to bowl that slow, to mess with the heads of batsmen in this era of batting madness, must be celebrated.
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