We were excited about last summer's cricket tour by the English, possibly more because of the atmosphere at the games with the influx of English supporters than the onfield prospects. However we are excited about the Indian tour for cricket reasons alone.
The Indians have shown their respect for New Zealand cricket by bring a full-strength side, chock-full of cricketing superstars - Sehwag, Gambhier, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman Dhoni, Yuraj Singh, Habarjan Singh - all world-class players. A feast of cricket awaits us over the next six weeks or so, beginning with the 20/20 match in Christchurch this evening.
And although Mrs Inventory and I have worked this week's schedule around going to the match in Wellington on Friday night, it is the three test matches that we are really looking forward to. Test match cricket is REAL cricket. And Keeping Stock reckons that the Black Caps, if they have a good run with injuries, will surprise. They'll have taken some confidence from their performances in Australia, and we don't believe that they will lay down for the Indians, especially if the autumnal conditions favour swing and seam bowling. And bear this in mind - for all their talent, the Indians haven't won a test series here since 1968. A fascinating series awaits.
Three words sum up our sense of anticipation of this series - bring it on!
9 comments:
Inv,
Are you going to be making it down here in time to watch this spectacular?
You could give Andrew Jones a lift.
In a word: no And we will be in Welly in plenty of time, but we're sure we'll be able to keep ourselves otherwise entertained. We'll head up to the Tin around sixish.
You wouldn’t want to get to the concourse any later than that Inv; I reckon there’ll be a decent walk up crowd.
And you’ll want to get to the Basin with more than 30 minutes to spare on April 3 too.
Bought my tickets from Ticketek last night, so we will walk up and walk in. If I get down to the Wellington test though, I'll be there in plenty of time.
The atmosphere could be interesting with the Indian supporters too...in Auckland anyway, looking like a sell out (yes, I know they smashed a stand, but still).
...if the autumnal conditions favour swing and seam bowling.
...then we will get mashed by Sharma, Khan, and whoever their third seamer is!
StephenR - you are right to mention the bowlers (obviously INV2was a batsman) lol. Sharma along with Southee is one of the most promising quick bowlers around but the bowling star of the tour may be Mishra. Zaheer Khan and Pathan are no slugs either and Pathan also bats pretty well.
My aim is to get to the first day at Napier plus another day if possible but they couldn't have picked a worse time for the Napier test as far as I am concerned. A week either side would have been better.
I won't be watching the 20/20s as I would sooner see the Indians play proper cricket.
Each to their own pdm - whilst my first love is test cricket, I still enjoy the range of skills on display in the abbreviated form of the game, and if nothing else, the 20/20's will be good fun, with plenty of boundaries struck.
mmmmm - definitely a batsman with no concern for the poor bowlers.
I2
if in Wellington, let me know so I can reciprocate your hospiltality
BTW my wine merchant who is Fijian Indian thinks NZ may have the edge
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