Why The Basin Reserve is the Best F#@*ing Cricket Ground in NZ (*for internationals)
The grand old lady of test cricket in NZ was established in 1868, built by the prisoners of Mount Cook Barracks...
This article is going to offend a lot of people, and make others very proud of what we have. Sorry fans of Hagley Oval, Seddon Park et al, I’m going to tell you why The Basin Reserve is the best effing cricket ground in New Zealand, at least for international test cricket. End of.
Prior to the 1855 earthquake, the largest in Wellington’s documented history, the land around the Basin Reserve was a moist, wet, damp swamp. The earthquake raised the land by about a metre and a half which allowed the opportunity to drain and develop it. In 1857 citizens petitioned the council to create a permanent cricket venue. The Basin Reserve was then built by the (free) labour of the prisoners from nearby Mount Cook Barracks in 1863. These hardened crims worked the land from a swampy bog into what it is today. In 1866 it was then leased for cricket. The Basin Reserve was established in 1868 and the first cricket match played there later that year, even if the turf was still in a bit of a state. In the 1880’s cricketers invested heavily into it, improving the playing surface. In those days the layout was a large rectangular shape that could fit multiple games of club cricket at once and had space for two full sized football pitches. In 1877 an All England XI played there, it’s popularity proved so large that a public holiday was proclaimed and schools were closed for 2 days. 6 weeks later that same All England team played the first ever test match against Australia at the MCG. Test cricket was born.
Above: a cricket match at the Basin in 1929. The first test match to be played there occurred the following year against England. The newly built Museum Stand, pictured here, is still standing today. Note the boy at the bottom left standing on his bicycle to get a glimpse of the action. Kids today still climb over that very fence to watch the action.
The first ever test match in New Zealand was played in Christchurch in 1930, the second test of that series was played at the Basin with the third test at Eden Park. That makes the Basin the oldest surviving test venue. The Basin is a lot older than Eden Park which was established in around 1903, Hagley Oval (as an international venue) or any other cricketing venue in NZ. My first memory there was as a 5 year old in about 1986/87 when the West Indies toured. I can remember these giants, at the peak of their powers, walking down the players pavilion next to the R.A. Vance Stand on a gloomy day.
I love the Basin and I love it’s history, and history it has in spades. Take your pick.
Martin Crowe’s famous 299 in 1991 against a hapless Sri Lanka led by Ranatunga and co serving up absolute cannon fodder (which also featured his record partnership of 467 with Andrew Jones).
23 years later Brendon McCullum finally broke the curse of 299 with his 302 in 2014 , much to Crowe’s relief (an innings Kohli will want to erase from memory when he dropped him on 9 at mid on).
How about our first ever test win against England which occurred at the Basin in 1978? This was Richard Hadlee’s finest hour up until that point (the first of many it would prove).
It was there that we beat Australia in a test match in 1990 in Hadlee’s swansong year. I still have the image burnt into my memory when he clean bowled Steve Waugh for 25 to a ball that wasn’t there to drive.
One of our favourite sons Dan Vettori made his debut there in 1997 as an 18 year old.
Who could forget arguably New Zealand’s greatest ever test win at home in Feb 2023 when we beat England by our narrowest ever margin, 1 run, on day 5, thanks to an heroic effort by Neil Wagner in the final over of the day. That was unbelievable.
Now the English are back for revenge. I’ll be there tomorrow for day one and I can’t wait. The Barmy Army will be there in spades, supporting Wellington’s struggling economy and hospo industry by pissing 500,000 litres of piss against the walls of the urinals.
Let’s be frank, it’s easily the best test cricket venue in NZ. Yes it gets it’s fair share of rubbish weather, gale force winds and polar, southerly blasts, but it also gets unbelievable days where its perfectly calm and hot, especially on the bank. There is nothing better than sitting on the bank underneath the Christmasy Pohutukawa trees sinking a cold beer and watching test cricket. To sit back, take it all in, dip in and out, and back again.
A proper sized cricket ground with decent dimensions is rare in NZ. The Basin actually has quite large boundaries and deep pockets. Back in the day when the white picket fence surrounding the boundary was the boundary, you had to hit the fence to collect 4 runs, or hit it over the fence to get 6. That’s a bloody big hit. Nowadays they bring the rope in way too far. It’s too easy for batsmen with larger bats and thick edges, with the rope in 10-15 metres from the fence. Even then the Basin has decent sized boundaries.
The key thing is the Basin is not trying to be a rugby ground and a cricket ground wrapped into one. It’s a pure cricket ground, for the test cricket tragics like me.
Seddon Park is beautiful, it’s picturesque with lovely big embankments and hedges, but it’s too small and only came onto the scene as an international venue in the early 1990’s. Lovers of Hagley Oval will say it is the best ground in NZ for test cricket. Yes it is idyllic and has in recent years come on the scene as a great test venue but it’s bank is too flat (great for those little seats though) and doesn’t have 150 years+ of history and character behind it as a continuous, genuine, purpose built cricket ground with regular international fixtures (sure it’s hosted plenty of club cricket and domestic games). It takes years to build character. Eden Park was originally built for cricket but now it’s a massive rugby stadium with the odd white ball game played there, and it isn’t older than the Basin. Carisbrook is no longer, McLean Park in Napier is a great holiday hotspot for games, but it’s a rugby ground. The Mount is a great ground for cricket, another perfect holiday hotspot over Christmas and New year, but like Hagley it’s a grassy bank with 1 pavilion. It will take time to improve on and build its own character.
The Museum Stand, now 100 years old, was built in 1924 and recently earthquake strengthened. For most of my childhood it smelt like 100 year old urine. Now it’s been given a refresh and houses some great memorabilia.
Then you have the iconic RA Vance Stand with it’s 1980’s zigzag rooftop. It gets zero sun even in the height of summer, but the views are spectacular from up there, looking down towards Wellington College, St Marks, Government House (where my uncle Paul Reeves resided from 1984-1990) and Adelaide Road. It’s south facing aspect welcomes the antarctic southerly winds with open arms. Every touring team hates the southerly which gives us a great home advantage. We can handle it (just).
Then there is the famous embankment covering around half of the ground. This is the place to be to catch the action and soak in the sun. It’s been the place of some legendary Kiwi antics. Once a patron was carrying 4 beers in a tray when he fell down the bank, it was caught on camera and commentated perfectly by David “Bumble” Lloyd. I remember as a 10 year old during a world cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka a guy on the bank was so drunk he pissed his pants and had a sign saying “Go India” (he would have been cancelled and kicked out today for that).
All around the ground kids will find a space to play their own game of cricket. Sometimes they are lucky enough to play on the playing field during lunch breaks. I’ve seen famous commentators do pitch reports out there, Geoff Boycott, Mike Atherton and Tony Grieg.
The Basin is quite easy to sneak into as well. My mate’s older brother Dave Murphy once snuck in during the early hours of the morning and hid in the bushes behind the embankment. He smuggled in a box of beers and waited for play to start. This was true commitment. It started raining. He waited and waited, drank a beer or two to pass the time, only for the entire day to be rained off.
One of my favourite memories from a personal perspective was to get the opportunity to bowl in the nets to the New Zealand team in 2005 in preparation for their match up against Australia: featuring they greats - Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee. I remember it so clearly. After Gavin Larsen gave me the all clear via email, I turned up, super nervous. I was bowling leg spin (in an effort to replicate Shane Warne). I grew up copying Shane Warne since I was 9 so I sort of backed myself. First I bowled to Craig McMillan, his eyes lit up, smiling and licking his lips, he spanked me for a massive six. Then Dan Vettori summoned me over to the spinners net. Bowled a few to him. Annoyingly, bowling coach Ashley Ross got me to bowl only around the wicket which messed with my bearings as there wasn’t a lot of space between the wicket and the side netting (it was claustrophobic, and ironically Warne didn’t bowl around the wicket once in that test). Then up came Nathan Astle who smashed me through the covers on numerous occasions. Up stepped Brendon “Baz” McCullum who did the same, but I did have a good duel with him, he smashed a couple right back at me. I tricked him on a couple of occasions with my googly and he acknowledged that by saying and smiling “you got me mate!” in a very encouraging way, that gave me a bit more confidence. My best spell was to James Franklin. I got him out a couple of times and he was very moody with me, telling me to bowl a “faster, flatter line”. That disrupted my rhythm and I bowled a few shockers that gripped in the back of the hand. I got the yips. However, one delivery I really let the ball rip with a leg break and it spun square from about 2m outside his off stump, he left it and it nearly bowled him! Got some good encouragement from Ross behind the stumps for that delivery. Then Franklin skied an attempted sweep shot straight up (out!). Then I let rip with a perfect googly which came out of the hand beautifully, he came forward and it beat his outside edge. Beaten all ends up. Another pat on the back from bowling coach. Franklin was seriously being humiliated by a part time club bowler here. That felt so good.
Later that night, on a massive high, I was having a beer in a bar on Courtenay Place. April Sun in Cuba was on and I was singing it at the top of my lungs. I turned to look across the bar and Brett Lee was also singing it in full voice. After the song he came over and said “great song eh! Want a shot of tequila?” I obliged, we necked one back, then I bought a round, we had a brief yarn about the upcoming test. Rubbing shoulders with the fastest bowler in the world was amazing!
Me and a few mates had another go in the nets to the England team in 2008. I remember Steve Harmison (on this 2024 tour as a commentator) bowling huge no balls on purpose (overstepping by about a metre) and none of his team mates, including Ian Bell, wanted to face him as he was bowling nasty short stuff around the throat. My mate Chris Murphy took a hat trick against Chris Martin and then Nathan Astle nearly got bowled by him when he shouldered arms. They exchanged a few wry smiles.
I was lucky enough to play on the hallowed turf of the Basin only once, in a corporate social game organised by my great mate John Porter (cricket enthusiast, wine maker and astute lawyer). It was basically a day 3 test match wicket as the test against South Africa finished early on Day 3. It was literally a road, like solid concrete. It was true and flat with no demons. As I took guard looking up to the R.A. Vance Stand, in a wierd way I felt like I had made it, like I had realised a life long dream to be out in the middle. After a slowish 13 a rush of blood went straight to my head, in survival mode I rolled the eyes into the back of the head and played a rash shot. What I noticed being out there was just how deep the boundaries were.
I remember after a 1997 tribute game at the Basin Merv Hughes was having a post game run around the boundary. My mate Ryan threw a 50c coin at him and it hit him flush on the head (oh no!). As 15 year olds we ducked and hid but he knew it was us and gave us a serve. A serve from Merv. That was scary.
I remember the washed out 1998 Shell Cup Final between Wellington and Canterbury with my great school mate Pete Robson. I recall Roger Twose coming out to bat to the Braveheart theme and Chris Cairns bowling some serious heat (he was in his prime then as a pace bowler, probably about 27 years of age). A bloke on the bank yelled out to Cairns fielding at third man, telling him that he had a dangerously small penis. Cairns turned around, singled him out and gestured back at him signalling to his downstairs that the bloke himself who yelled was the one who had a small operation. These were the sort of fan-player interactions that made the Basin so fun. Great character building and good hearted banter.
These days I take the family, my daughter and partner to the Basin. They love it. I also take Mum. She’s 82 and still loves her cricket and she absolutely loves the Basin. I simply wheel her down Adelaide Road in a wheelchair from her Retirement Village in Newtown’s “Village at the Park” (the old Athletic Park).
Walking around the boundary I was nearly hit in the head twice - once by a Craig McDermott 6 hook shot near the entrance gates in about 1994, and against a couple of years ago from a classic Ross Taylor slog sweep to cow corner in front of the bank.
Wellington Easts players will hate this but a great day out at the Basin in about 2008/9 was a famous club final won by my boyhood club Naenae, home at that stage to Jesse Ryder (who was there but not playing), Grant Elliot and Ewan Chatfield of course. Clutch player Shane Battock bowled a famous last over. I think Easts needed about 4 off the last over with 2 wicket in hand. He took 2 wickets to kill the game and we all ran on the field like a mob of bogans to congratulate the boys.
The Basin hasn’t just hosted cricket though, it’s also hosted international rugby league, wood chopping, AFL, athletics, football, Chatham Cup finals and hockey.
Earlier this year when Australia toured I had a few beers down at Shed 22 (the old Mac’s Brewery on the waterfront). The ACC were hosting a pregame event to encourage good spirited pre-loading early morning as not many bars are even open before a test. Met a few English guys who won an ACC competition to fly up and go to the game. Then G Lane threw us into a minivan, he slammed the door shut and some random guy drove us to the game. I joked that perhaps we were sacrificial lambs to be offered to the cricketing gods so that we could take a few quick Australian wickets and get back in the game (and it actually happened, we mopped up their innings swiftly). That day I saw almost every NRL jersey represented, even my beloved North Sydney Bears. Lots of Aussies came over including some famous types trying to disguise themselves (for example broadcasting host James Bracey wearing a North Sydney Bears hat and shades). I was wearing my heritage 1995 Warriors jersey which made for easy conversation starters with fellow NRL fans. I spoke to South Sydney fans, Parramatta Eels fans and a Cowboys fan proudly donning his teams colour, he flew over from Townsville the day before only in his t-shirt and an Australian flag. He was drinking beers to stay warm. He said he was absolutely freezing as when he left Townsville it was about 38 degrees. When I spoke to the legendary premiership winning Panthers halfback Greg “Brandy” Alexander on his radio show before play I said “mate you have to come over one day, take a couple days off and watch some test cricket!” He genuinely wanted to and said “Sparky, I would love to do that mate, I would love nothing more than to do that”. But he was stuck in Sydney with work commitments.
To conclude, I never get sick of going to the Basin, I absolutely love it. To soak in the buzz around the ground on the morning of a test match, to smelling the freshly cut grass, to feeling the carpet-like outfield in bare feet during the lunch break, or just walking around the ground sipping a beer and doing laps. It fills me with optimism that our cricketing future is a good one when I see kids playing their own games of cricket at the back of the terraces, its inspiring not to mention lots of fun to join in. Thinking about it now, I think I want my ashes spread around the Basin one day when I finally go.