NZC honours historic half-century at the Basin Reserve

New Zealand Cricket has congratulated Wellington’s historic Basin Reserve cricket ground on reaching a unique milestone.

When the second Test between the BLACKCAPS and Pakistan gets under way at the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve tomorrow (Thursday 3 December) it will mark the 50th Test at the ground – the first New Zealand venue to reach the half-century.

The Basin Reserve was the second venue in New Zealand to host a Test match – Christchurch’s Lancaster Park was the first – when New Zealand and England faced each other on 24 January 1930.

That Test, which ended in a draw, featured a 276-run opening partnership between Wellington’s Stewie Dempster (136) and Jack Mills (117), which remains a record against England.

In 49 Tests at the ground to date, New Zealand’s record is 14 wins, 16 losses and 19 draws.

New Zealand Cricket President Denis Currie said the Basin Reserve was to be congratulated on its achievement.

“Reaching 50 Tests is a remarkable and deserved milestone,” Mr Currie said. “The Basin is a tremendous place to play and watch cricket, and always has such a great atmosphere.

“It’s a unique setting – in the middle of probably the world’s biggest traffic roundabout. But for traditional Test cricket you couldn’t have a better environment.

“Personally I regard it as the home of Test cricket in New Zealand, and over the years I’ve enjoyed watching many great contests.”

BLACKCAPS Captain Daniel Vettori is also delighted to be part of the 50-Test celebrations this week, and describes the Basin as one of his favourite grounds.

“I love the Wellington test,” he said. It does have a lot of history, and it’s purely a cricket ground as well. You come here and you know it’s all about cricket.

“All the guys love coming here, and we’ve had some pretty good results – and some good test matches.”

Vettori’s own favourite memory at the Basin was the second Test against India in December 1998, a match which the BLACKCAPS won by four wickets.

“While I didn’t have a huge amount of success – I scored some runs – it’s just that test match feeling, like the one in Dunedin.

“When you play a test match like that and the feelings that come from it, those are the things you remember and the grounds you played them at.”