Epic

I went to the Fill the Basin for Christchurch benefit match at the Basin Reserve today - I was actually working for some of it, but then got to sit back, relax, and enjoy an amazing afternoon of Twenty20 cricket with some serious legends of the game (and a few hangers-on...!).

The teams were quite astonishing line-ups:

Wellington Legends XI: Martin Crowe (captain), Andrew Jones, Bruce Edgar, Chris Nevin, Ewen Chatfield, Gavin Larsen, Jason Wells, Jonathan Millmow, Matthew Bell, Richard Petrie, Roger Twose, Tana Umaga (and The Stig).


Canterbury Invitation XI: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Geoff Allott, Marc Ellis, Mark Greatbatch, Sir Richard Hadlee, Rod Latham, Craig McMillan, Dion Nash, Adam Parore, Justin Vaughan, Shane Warne.

It was an absolute delight to see some of the legends of cricket that I used to watch when I fell in love with the game having another bash on the Basin - seeing "the Naenae Express" (Ewen Chatfield) and "Paddles" (Sir Richard Hadlee) having a bowl was just fantastic. And I was super-impressed with Prime Minister John Key, facing up to an over from Shane Warne, the best spin bowler the world has ever seen (I have to be honest, even if he is an Aussie!). Even more impressed that John Key survived all six deliveries, and even managed to put a few over the boundary! Also just hilarious to see Tana Umaga (better known for his rugby!) to bash a few boundaries and to get Craig McMillan out (not to mention a stunning catch the next over!).

Fantastic day all round really.