Pitch Under fire after wash out | Hawkes Bay Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Hawkes Bay

The debate surrounding Phil Stoyanoff's prime real estate reared its  head once more as
McLean Park remained virgin territory for the hapless New Zealand cricket team.

Akin to Groundhog Day, captain Daniel Vettori fired a salvo at the  pitch on the Napier venue following their drawn third and final test match against Pakistan last
night.

The match  ended in an anti-climax yesterday with New Zealand in an unbeatable position but  persistent showers late in the afternoon denied them a chance of
victory.

``You still come back to not wanting the pitch to be at its best on the fourth or fifth day _ and that was pretty much the case,'' Vettori said.

New Zealand Cricket's ``Swiss knife'' delivered a cutting post-mortem examination summary after head groundsman Stoyanoff's blunt prematch forecast that a result was imminent because neither side was adept at batting.

Vettori, who is captain/selector in the absence of a coach these days, had earlier this year criticised the pitch after the West Indies decider got rained out in similar circumstances.

Stoyanoff had broken from tradition to provide a wicket that offered seamers some traction on a notoriously benign batting track but the Pakistanis, who regretted
the decision a day later, elected to bat after winning the toss.

Rueing the washout, Vettori lamented: ``On test-match wickets, you want variable bounce on fourth and fifth days and [for it to] become harder and harder to bat on [but] this wicket got better and better as it went on.

``I think every time we come to Napier you'll probably see the same thing. We were denied an opportunity this afternoon so we look back on that with a bit of disappointment.''

Nevertheless, Vettori reconciled that with the  satisfaction that his troops had fought
long and hard to give themselves a chance of victory.

Celebrating  Iain O'Brien's career was the mood in the camp last night but  Vettori felt it would still not camouflage the disappointment of letting another series slip from their grasp.

 While the bitter verdict has some substance, the fact  the wicket yielded 20 wickets for the Caps does beg the question: Did the batsmen show enough urgency in light of predicted rain and poor light?

It'll be something to ponder  as Vettori enjoys his first Christmas with the family ``in about 12 years'' after it was disclosed that he and a few other players would
not pull on their whites again until January 2.With the perceived lack of turkey carvery
skills, he did not envisage problems considering his in-laws make up an extensive family network to perform such tasks.

``That's my plan, I don't want to work for two weeks,'' said New Zealand's skipper.