English bunting returned to the Ashburton Domain oval on Sunday as England played the New Zealand ‘Grey Caps’ in the Over 70s Cricket World Cup.
It was the second time in two weeks the English had fronted at the oval.
The Sunday before, they played and convincingly beat Canada on the same ground.
It was a must-win game for the Kiwis last weekend that was eventually abandoned due to rain.
New Zealand was batting and were five wickets for 51 runs after 23.2 overs, before the weather had the final say.
It was meant to be a 45-over match. Kiwi player Jeremy Wilson, 71, said it was a ‘‘nervous’’ time for the Kiwis. ‘‘England are very, very strong,’’ he said.
‘‘We lost narrowly to Australia. But to get to the final we have to beat England, and they’ve got player numbers in the thousands in all their veterans’ grades.’’
‘‘They’re just very, very strong and they have regular country competitions, so these guys are playing two and three times a week,’’ he said.
Wilson, chairman of Veterans Cricket New Zealand, has played for New Zealand for 12 years; 10 years in the over 60s side and two years in the current over 70s team.
‘‘I played against the English team at the world cup two years ago in England.
‘‘They are very strong side. They are very good.’’
Wilson said at the most recent world cup in England, New Zealand failed to get a team together because of the costs associated with travel.
That tournament spurred a decision to host as a way to increase options on the field.
‘‘We applied to host the next one, because I thought it would give us a better chance with a bigger pool (of players) to pick from plus a few guys who have just turned 70.’’
As a result, New Zealand now had a stronger side.
‘‘Veterans cricket has grown enormously, We have been going for just over 11 years and now we’ve got 40s, 50s, 55s, 60s, 65s, 70s and 75s.’’
The oldest player in the Kiwi side was aged 76 and overall, there had been few injuries.
Most of those tweaked muscles.
‘‘We anticipated a few injuries, and we’ve got a big squad,’’ he said.
‘‘But of course, the English and Aussie have always going to have a far bigger pool to select from,’’ he said.
Wilson, who is married to former Ashburton lass, Julie (nee Crouchley), was appreciative of the crowds who had attended games throughout Canterbury.
He said the biggest crowd turnout had been Kiwis vs Australia played at St Andrew’s College in Christchurch.
In Ashburton, Wilson’s motherin-law, Bev Crouchley of Ashburton was among the spectators to support the team as they took on England.
‘‘This is lovely, it’s great,’’ Wilson said, of the spectators scattered around the oval.
His time at the crease was a different story and not something he wanted to revisit.
‘‘I played a shot that I was very happy with and some (keen) Pom dived full-length and caught it one-handed.’’
- At the world cup eight teams were competing: New Zealand, Australia, Canada, England, India, Rest of the World. Sri Lanka and USA.
The final between Australia and Canada is today at Hagley Park in Christchurch.
