Hadlee Pavilion – Special moments

brian hastings_mahela jayawardena_todd astleBrian Hastings recounted a tale when he was a guest at the Canterbury Kings Central Stags T20 match at Hagley Oval on Sunday (shown here at the aftermatch with Mahela Jayawardene and Todd Astle ).

Brian was playing on his home ground at Lancaster Park in March 1974 when the New Zealand cricket team beat Australia for first time in a test match. A low scoring match (just as the recent pink ball test was in Adelaide – no team scored more than 260) the late Ken Wadsworth hit the winning runs with a four and the ball was grabbed by a spectator who made his exit up through the stand. Australian opening batsman Ian Redpath pursued the ball snatcher into the stand and retrieved the ball giving it to Brian as a memento of the New Zealand victory. In that memorable match Glenn Turner scored a hundred in each innings and was 99 not out overnight on the second day and 85 not out overnight on the fourth day.

Brian, who was the match referee in all three of the Pakistan v Sri Lanka three tests played in Pakistan in 2000, was chatting with Mahela, who played all three games in that series, won by Sri Lanka 2-1.

By Trevor Thornton, Canterbury Cricket Trustee