The Cricket and the Duck

A lovely day at the cricket

For the first time in a very long while I decided to attend a cricket test match. It was the first day of play between England and New Zealand and was held at the Basin Reserve. It was named thus because in the 1840s when Wellington was settled by the New Zealand Company this particular area was a shallow lagoon linked to the harbour by a river along Kent and Cambridge Terrace. The idea was to create a 'Little Italy' with a canal running to the lagoon which would become an anchorage.

These plans did not reach fruition due to a large earthquake in 1855 which caused an uplifting of the land. This gained us the waterfront, Lambton Quay, the connecting road to Lower Hutt and turned the basin into a swamp.
It was then decided to turn the swamp into a reserve for recreation and cricket and the Basin Reserve was born. It also happens to be a giant roundabout for traffic. At the moment there is debate whether to build a fly-over at one side of the ground to alleviate traffic congestion.

But back to the present. The grounds were a picture and the day a cracker. By the time I arrived the embankment was filling fast, but I found a spot on the flat up the top. The old stand opposite was empty as it is an earthquake hazard. It looked forlorn but an attempt to brighten it up had been made by the British who had hung flags and banners from it.
The cricket in the middle was a stately affair. The English played with style, quietly building a total while the Black Caps showed their bowling arsenal to be adequate in controlling the run rate without threatening anything. All very pleasant and genteel.

Well, there was one thing that could have been threatened. Close to the wicket was a male paradise shelduck seemingly oblivious of the activity around it. The cricket game not putting anyone at risk least of all the duck who hardly moved when fielders ran by him or the ball rolled past. He remained close to the action, placidly feeding, moving out of the way if a ball or fielder got close, but stayed in the middle of the field to almost lunch time. Perhaps he realised New Zealand needed all the help it could get.  

Black Cap Rutherford politely asking Mr Paradise Shelduck to depart.
Mr Shelduck politely refused. 

A relaxing day at the cricket, players included. Mr Selduck is the blob
 in front of the right batsman.

                                       
The Barmy Army were quiet till after lunch whereupon they started singing and chanting and waving flags each time their side met another milestone. A new pope had been elected earlier in the day and a pope replica received plenty of applause when he arrived at the game. All in all there was plenty to entertain even though not much was happening in the middle. I heard over the radio that the shelduck had set up a twitter site and already had three hundred followers.

Out to my left I could see the Wakefield Memorial which used to reside outside the ground but which was brought inside several years ago. It was erected in 1882 having been ordered from England in 1850 to celebrate William Wakefield, the dubious character who founded the Wellington settlement by setting up the New Zealand Company when in prison for trying to run off with a young heiress.

The Wakefield Memorial

All in all it was a pleasant day. After Mr Shelduck finally departed, I wondered where his wife was.

Putangitangi as the Maori call them are always in pairs. As they fly they talk to their mate, which is what the Maori name implies. They seem devoted  and are always in each others company. 

For the next couple of days I will have to listen to the game on the radio, but will attend the last two days, weather and New Zealand's ability to last the distance permitting.