Day 15 - Napier
Pakistan beat UAE by 129 runs
Napier is stuck in a time warp. New Zealand’s deadliest earthquake razed the east coast city in 1931, and much of it was subsequently rebuilt in the style of the day, art deco.
It seems like the town centre has barely moved on since. Some residents even drive around in cars of that vintage – useful for providing guided trips to tourists, apparently.
It feels as though the cricketers should be wearing white flannels, score at 2.1 runs per over, then stop for some Earl Grey with a slice of lemon and cucumber sandwiches at 3.30pm.
Before the start of the game at McLean Park, queuing spectators are entertained by a dance troupe dressed in 1930s garb, doing the Charleston.
Unfortunately, those queues are light on numbers. A fixture between the UAE and Pakistan does not seem to have gripped the imagination of the locals. Perhaps appropriately, the fixture falls flat as the UAE fall to a heavy loss.
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Day 16 - Napier
Lunch at Ujazi, a hipster cafe with Bob Marley paintings on offcuts of old wooden crates nailed to the walls, located on the central Tennyson Street in Napier.
Sat on the adjacent table, on the pedestrian walkway out front, with his wife and two daughters, is just about the most celebrated person in New Zealand right now: Brendon McCullum.
New Zealand are in town ahead of their fixture against Afghanistan at McLean Park this weekend, and it is fair to say the hopes of the nation are resting on their captain’s shoulders.
Or, more accurately, his forearm. McCullum is still wearing the lightweight compression bandage around the injury inflicted by a bouncer from Mitchell Johnson during the thrilling game between Australia and New Zealand last weekend.
At least the cartoon style swelling, which made him look like Popeye dosed up on spinach, has abated.
McCullum was voted the New Zealander of the Year for 2014. He is also the captain of a team doing great things at a global sporting event in their homeland. That makes him an A-lister in these parts.
Yet he still moves about unencumbered by hangers-on in Napier. One person – a tourist – politely inquires about his arm. Other than that, he is left to eat his chicken Caesar salad and entertain his two young daughters in peace.
Day 17 - Napier-Wellington
The fifth journey between venues so far on this tour is the first not to involve air travel. Instead of flying the 315 kilometres from Napier on the east coast of the North Island to Wellington, at its southern end, as the UAE team did yesterday, I opt for a slow drive instead.
On the eastern side of the motorway there is a small, unremarkable hill. The name of it is the abbreviated Maori translation of the following: “The brow of a hill where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed, and swallowed mountains, known as land eater, played his flute to his brother.”
Just the abbreviated version is: “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.”
Which is worth noting for two reasons: 1. It is the world’s longest place name. 2. It gives a little sadistic pleasure to imagine the page editor’s travails checking to see if it is spelt correctly.
Day 18 - Wellington
This tournament has generally been lucky in avoiding inclement weather. One major blow was the cancellation of Australia’s match against Bangladesh at The Gabba, after Cyclone Marcia hit Brisbane.
Some overs are knocked off today’s Pakistan v South Africa game in Auckland, too. Lucky it was not being played here in the capital, though.
In Wellington, the rain is so severe the fire brigade are called out to various floods. At its heaviest, 90mm falls in one hour – coincidentally the same amount which fell on the UAE’s first day in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago.
In subtropical Queensland they called this sort of weather a cyclone. In Wellington, it passes for summer.
Day 19 - Wellington
The one must-do attraction in Wellington is said to be Te Papa, the national museum which currently has an exhibition celebrating the country’s national airline, as well as permanent shows about earthquakes, orcs and whales.
For cricket aficionados, a venture to the NZ Cricket Museum is a necessity, too. The UAE may be the least known of the teams at this competition but they have still managed to be celebrated there.
A shirt and cap from the UAE’s qualifying success to reach this tournament are among the exhibits. Nancy Doyle, the Irish cook who used to prepare the teas at Lord’s, also has her own dedicated section.
So all of cricket’s major feats, then.
Day 20 - Wellington
It may be gallows humour, but the UAE players seem extremely upbeat ahead of the mission improbable against South Africa on Thursday.
Training is at the delightful Basin Reserve, the old ground on a roundabout near a war memorial in the middle of Wellington which is regarded as the spiritual home of New Zealand cricket.
In the warm-up, which is a hybrid game of netball crossed with American football, the standout players by a distance are the ones who have yet to make an appearance in the World Cup.
Fahad Al Hashmi scores most of the touchdowns, and celebrates each with great panache.
Meanwhile, Kamran Shahzad gets so het up at one point that Paul Franks, the assistant coach and referee for the match, temporarily sends him off and makes him do a lap of the field.
The punishment has the inverse effect. He comes back wilder than ever. When he subsequently scores the winning point, his celebration is more volcanic than anywhere in the tectonic North Island.
Maybe both are trying to prove a point. More likely they have both been given the nod that they are in the team to face Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla and the rest, and are giving vent to their excitement.
Day 21 - Wellington
The Basin Reserve would be a far better venue for UAE’s pool match with South Africa in two days’ time than The Cake Tin. Only a small crowd are expected and they will be lost in a stadium made to seat 35,000.
The Cake Tin, the official World Cup venue just across the city, rarely sells out even when New Zealand are playing, or when the Hurricanes play their home Super Rugby matches.
By contrast, the Basin Reserve is atmospheric, even with nobody there.
It only stages Test matches these days. Its floodlights are derelict. There are wooden bleachers rather than comfy plastic seats.
There is also a public footpath that skirts the playing area. No doubt that would be closed down if Australia or India were training here.
Seeing as it is the low-key UAE national team, though, there is no such problem. A few schoolchildren and business people stop, sit on the banks and eat their packed lunches. Other than that, the players are left to their own devices.
On the list of prohibited items at the public entrance are the usuals: alcohol, illicit drugs and the like ... and sofas.
It used to be standard for some spectators, particularly in student towns in the south of the country, to bring the couch along from their front rooms to provide a more comfortable view of the action.
pradley@thenational.ae
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