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 | |  Thursday, 21 March, 2002, 07:12 GMT Wash-out in Wellington  Bad weather is forecast to continue through day two Second Test, Wellington, day one New Zealand v England (no play - rain) Rain, bad light and gale-force winds at Wellington's Basin Reserve prevented any play on the first day of the second Test between England and New Zealand. And Friday's second day also looks doubtful, with the bad weather set to continue, before giving way to a brighter weekend. Prospects looked bleak from the early morning, and both teams returned to their hotels even before play was due to begin. Pitch covers had to be weighed down with rocks and several roller machines to stop them blowing away in the gales. Ground staff also claimed it would take four hours for the playing area to dry once it stopped raining. And umpires Darrell Hair and Steve Dunne finally announced an abandonment at lunch-time. Play will be extended by an hour over each of the four remaining days to make up for some of the lost playing time, and day two is now scheduled to start at 2200 GMT. Extra recovery One man pleased at the extra wait was England batsman Mark Butcher, given extra time for his right thumb to heal. The left-hander was due to have a fitness test in the morning after cracking a bone taking a catch at slip during England's 98-run first Test victory at Christchurch.
Neither team had been announced prior to the umpires abandoning play, so now Butcher has been handed at least an extra day to recover. England coach Duncan Fletcher said: "Another 24 hours recovery time made a big difference to him the day before. "I'm sure the extra day will help to some degree and that has got to be an advantage to us, but we'll be giving him another test tomorrow." New Zealand remain hopeful of left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori's match fitness. Vettori is suffering from acute pain in his lower back but has so far come through unscathed after two tough fitness tests. Records This is the first time in 51 years that the opening day's play had been washed out without a ball bowled in a Test at the Wellington ground. The first Test there - also between New Zealand and England - suffered a similar fate on March 24, 1951. In 39 Tests at the Basin Reserve, seven full days of play have been lost. New Zealand now holds the record for the most days lost outside England in Tests - 42 days - in the 143 matches it has hosted since facing England in Christchurch in January 1930. New Zealand (from):S Fleming (capt), N Astle, I Butler, C Drum, M Horne, C Martin, C McMillan, A Parore (wkt), M Richardson, D Vettori, L Vincent, D Tuffey, C Harris. England (from): N Hussain (capt), M Trescothick, M Butcher, G Thorpe, M Ramprakash, M Vaughan, A Flintoff, C White, A Giles, J Foster (wkt), A Caddick, M Hoggard, U Afzaal, I Bell. Umpires: S Dunne, D Hair (Aus). Test Match Special has live coverage of the second Test on BBC Radio 4 198 LW, 5Live Sports Extra on digital radio and channel 907 on digital TV. | |
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