The Best Ground in the World by Jim Ellingham

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Ground:

Basin Reserve, Wellington

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There is no better day in New Zealand Cricket then Boxing Day at the Basin Reserve. One just has to enter this ground to feel the sense of history there. The vibrant pohutukawa trees around the rolling grassy hillocks, the impressive new R.A.Vance stand and the historical old stand just add to the ambience of the best test cricket venue in the world.

 

To get even more of a feel for history, the old stand houses the New Zealand Cricket museum. This museum should be visited by every cricket fan as it houses treasure of New Zealand Cricket that have to be seen to believed. One of the world’s oldest cricket bats, Don Bradman memorabilia, Richard Hadlee’s test sweater and Bert Sutcliffe’s autograph are just some of the items, which grace this marvellous museum.

 

The Basin itself has been the venue of many of New Zealand Cricket’s finest moments and none loom as large as the 1978 victory over the “mother country”, where the two Richards, Collinge and Hadlee bowled New Zealand to victory on the old wind-swept rectangular park that former Indian captain Bishen Bedi once described as the worst ground in the world. The old configuration may not have been as attractive as the current one but it must hold fond memories in every-one who visited it.

 

Some people who will remember the old Basin in a good light are the 1946 Australian team as they routed New Zealand in two days in an embarrassing defeat that ceased test relations between the two for almost thirty years. It must be appropriate then that one of the Basin’s most memorable New Zealand victories was in 1990 when, in his final test in New Zealand, Sir Richard Hadlee, Danny Morrison and John Wright lead New Zealand to victory over Allan Border’s all conquering Australians.

 

The Boxing Day Test though, has really made the Basin something special. Special performances there always bring the crowd to their feet. In 1998 it was Simon Doull and who would forget Matthew Sinclair in 1999. The year 2000 brought a dull draw with Zimbabwe and 2001 saw New Zealand hand out a good old fashioned thrashing to a hapless Bangladesh. Why the Boxing Day Test was off the menu in 2002 in hard to fathom but to everyone’s relief (except perhaps a few New Zealand batsmen) 2003 saw this bastion of New Zealand test cricket re-established.

 

 

The Basin, unfortunately, now lies dormant for much of the year. In the past that was seldom the case as Cricket, Rugby, Rugby League, Athletics, Boxing, Wrestling and Soccer were regularly on show there. When one visits the Basin these days, three old rusty night-lights are relics of a bygone era in which Soccer and Softball were staged at night. Seeing the ball though was a problem. Don Neely and Joseph Romanos’ excellent book The Basin tells the remarkable story of the first night sporting fixture held in New Zealand. In was at the Basin and it was in the 1870s! A power generator was in operation and a man following the play up and down the sideline with a large light provided enough lux for the game to go ahead.

 

Over the years there have been many plans to get rid of the Basin, which happens to be the largest traffic island in the Southern hemisphere, to allow for traffic to flow through the site of this historic ground. Fortunately now the Basin is a New Zealand heritage site but only strong public support has saved it in the past. It is a pity that what was once the social hub of Wellington is empty for 350 days of the year. One wonders if international cricketers prefer to play at a half empty yellow concrete jungle or a packed, live, frenzied, genuine cricket ground with character? For any cricket lover the choice isn’t difficult.

 

(Article: Copyright © 2004 Jim Ellingham)