Black Caps Coach Gary Stead disappointed by abandoned Test

By Kris Shannon

The Black Caps had hoped an inaugural test against Afghanistan would prove ideal preparation for a crucial series in Sri Lanka.

Instead, during five frustrating days, the only cricket played was in the hallway of their hotel.

An exceptional amount of rain combined with uncommonly poor drainage to spoil the Black Caps’ plans in Noida, the Indian venue meant to host a historic match that would instead enter the history books for the wrong reasons.

The test became only the eighth in 147 years to be abandoned without a ball being bowled, with the field never deemed safe enough to play at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground.

That meant even when conditions were clear overhead – as during the opening two days – the players were stuck on the sidelines.

They weren’t there for long, with the final three days’ play called off shortly after the intended start time, leaving the Black Caps looking for other ways to fill their time.

“Our guys have been in the gym and working away,” said coach Gary Stead. “A lot of hallway cricket in the hotel, lots of playing spin and things like that.

“This was the first of six tests for us in Asia and that was the most disappointing part for us – we’ve lost that ability to be match-hardened and match-ready when we go into the test next week.”

The first of two tests in Galle begins on Wednesday and, unlike the Afghanistan match, comes with World Test Championship significance.

New Zealand currently sit third, behind Australia and next month’s opponents India, with Sri Lanka not far behind. And the hosts will certainly be match-hardened after earlier in the week winning the third test of a 2-1 series defeat in England.

“The preparation towards that would’ve been really useful for us,” Stead said. “We were frustrated; we’ve come here to play cricket and play a test match. Test cricket to our group of players is very dear to their hearts, and every test you get to play in is a big one, regardless of whether it has test championship points.

“We want to make the final again. We’ve been there once in the past and we’re desperate to get there again. So every test match we play will be an important one.”

Stead was unwilling to assign blame to anyone but mother nature, judging the wicket block to be “fantastic” despite patches of the field being ripped up and replaced on day two.

“It’s worth noting there’s been 1200mm of rain in the last week, and even though it was fine for those two days there were thunderstorms the nights before,” Stead said. “The ground was just too soft and the umpires deemed that unfit to play on.”

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott agreed with his counterpart’s assessment of the pitch, with the expectations of a good contest making the outcome even more “heartbreaking” for a developing side.

This was meant to be the Asian nation’s 10th test, having previously lost to Sri Lanka and the West Indies while beating Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Stead hoped it wouldn’t be long before a rematch was arranged.

“We were really excited about it – they’ve been great competitors of ours over the last few World Cups and we’ve had some great games of cricket.

“The guys are really disappointed. An opportunity to play Afghanistan doesn’t come around very often.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission