B is for… (Part 1)

Part 1: Bartlett to Blunt via The Basin

A second single at the start of a promising innings, there was the option for more B’s than a hive flush with honey. Those that made my list have been a strong part of my cricketing education – stepping stones on the path to my love of our great game. 

The Basin Reserve (Courtesy of supersport.com)

Among them the game’s most revered player, New Zealand’s Wisden trailblazer and a genuine quick with a bent arm. But cricket is about more than just the players, we all remember matches, grounds and series - a crushing victory against our most formidable foes on their turf, a ground at the centre of Kiwi cricket, a whitewash with a twist and a series that angered nations, changing cricket forever. What resonates with cricket’s tragics is as varied as the surfaces it’s played on – here’s a collection dear to a cricketing Buddha.


Bartlett, Gary
How often does New Zealand produce a genuine quick – a fast bowler that can hurry and rattle batsmen, hurling red thunderbolts?

At the wicket with Iain O’Brien - Part 1

A blessed career in the middle

Into the wind at the Basin - again...

Iain O’Brien donned the black cap of New Zealand on 36 occasions and made a career of bowling into the wind – an admirable choice when your home ground is (windy) Wellington’s Basin Reserve. His first class career spanned a decade but was eventually cut short by a spine that more closely resembled an S-bend. He was never the type of international cricketer would was going to set the world alight, but he holds a special place in the hearts of those who truly understand the New Zealand game – he was always the fan’s cricketer. Any number of his Wellington and New Zealand team mates will tell much the same story.  He retired from the international game at arguably the height of his powers and upped stumps and moved to the United Kingdom to be a ‘proper’ husband and start a family – how many other cricketers would make that choice?