Saturday, March 30, 2024

FROM THE RIDGE: Storm fails to put rain where it’s needed

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Northland has been getting some media attention as to how dry it is up there but Central Hawke’s Bay and up to Hastings and Napier are also in a very dry patch as the NIWA soil moisture maps depict.
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My area has had just 70mm of rain since the beginning of October. Others have had less. However, we were wet going into October so it only began to bite by mid-November.

From that point, many of us wean, get rid of lambs and old ewes and were hooking into the killable cattle.

The other saving grace was that most of us had been unable to restock properly from last year’s autumn drought and frankly few have ever returned to the stocking rates we had before the three cumulative droughts that began in 2007-08.

The only respite we got from last week’s storm that flooded parts of the South Island, brought hail and snow and gale winds to others was that the gales we had were cool rather than the hot ones we have been experiencing.

Coastal areas are running into water issues, having cleaned out dams last autumn which didn’t fill properly, crops tend to be poor and even looking from my place to the Ruahine foothills, they are brown there as well, which is unusual.

So, there is a lot of frantic destocking now.

In praise of test cricket. Now, I know many of you are not likely to be fans of cricket let alone test cricket but bear with me for a few moments.

A lot of folk just can't get that you can have a sports game that can run for five days but can often still end in a draw.

We live in an age of instant gratification with short spans of concentration required. Even cricket has progressed from 50 overs to 20 overs.

But I like it that test cricket still exists in the world. It’s a long deliberate game of skill, stamina, patience, bravery and strategy. A fast-paced frantic world with five-day test cricket is a better place for all of us.

The first test last week against Bangladesh was an excellent example of these virtues. I don't have the ability to sit around all day watching cricket, sadly, but catch up with a bit at lunch and after work.

I was fortunate to see Shakib al Hasan get his maiden double century and go on to to achieve his country's highest test score. How could the Black Caps avoid a defeat trying to chase 595 over the next three days?

By some superb batting by Latham and then with our own 539 any fool could see it would be an inevitable draw.

More fool me because the Kiwi bowling attack stepped up to get the poor Bangladeshis out for 160 giving our batsmen time in the final session, which I did watch, to chase the deficit.

Kane Williamson, now one of the best batsmen in cricket in all forms of the game, carried his bat for 104 for a most unlikely and exciting victory.

The New Zealand team now has the record of winning a test after conceding the most runs in the first innings with the old mark being the Aussies in 1894.

See, test cricket can still be cool, exciting and relevant.

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