Rain ruins NZ v Pakistan A fixture

A wet ground has forced the first-class game between New Zealand A and Pakistan A to be abandoned after two days without a ball being bowled. Despite sunny conditions in Cairns and play starting on time in today's Australia A v India A match at the nearby Cazaly's Stadium, Daryl Harper, the Top End Tour match referee, and the umpires Steve Baxter and John Ward decided the Fretwell Park surface needed more drying time.

Heavy rain in the city over the past couple of days hit both grounds, but the sand-based soil of the Cazaly's Stadium was able to recover more quickly. The Pakistan A and New Zealand A match was scheduled to start on Monday and the teams have agreed to play two one-day games on Wednesday and Thursday instead of attempting an abbreviated first-class contest.

New Zealand A showed strong form in two previous 50-over matches, beating Australia A by eight wickets and a Northern Territory XI by 28 runs, but they struggled in a couple of Twenty20 affairs and lost to India A in a first-class fixture. Pakistan A were beaten by India A by 130 runs in a one-day game, but recovered to conquer New Zealand A in a Twenty20 and draw the four-day contest with Australia A last week.