Test Cricket

When the New Zea­l­and crick­et team (note not BLACKCAPS™) first toured South Africa in 1953 they had nev­er won a Test Match and were giv­en no show against a ruth­less South Africa, on pitches tailored to sup­port their fast, mean quick bowl­ers.

The crick­et was tough, and vic­tory was ulti­mately bey­ond New Zeal­and’s grasp, but it was­n’t the crick­et that ensured that the series became a NZ sport­ing legend. The 1953 Second (Christ­mas Day) Test is fam­ous for the pro­foundly mov­ing story of one play­er, Kiwi fast bowl­er Bob Blair, and his story has been brought to the stage by tal­en­ted act­or Jonny Brugh (Sug­ar & Spice) and it’s play­ing now at BATS.

Dur­ing the rest day of the Test, Blair got the news that his fiancée Nerissa Love had been killed along with 150 oth­ers in the Tangi­wai Rail Dis­aster. When play resumed on Box­ing Day nobody expec­ted Blair to play any fur­ther part in the game. Without giv­ing too much away, the rest (as they say) is his­tory.

Brugh’s play is a mov­ing and beau­ti­fully acted treat­ment of the story. He plays dozens of parts (Blair & Love; crick­eters Rabone, Reid, Sutcliffe, etc; Prime Min­is­ter Sid Hol­land) and imbues them all with fine detail and a sweet com­ic sens­ib­il­ity. He brings, not just the game to life, but the era – a dif­fer­ent age.

Last night, thanks to Sir Ron Bri­er­ley and a plane tick­et from Eng­land where he now lives, Bob Blair was present at BATS to see his story told. He’ll spend the rest of the week catch­ing up with old com­rades and watch­ing a game that still looks like Test Crick­et down at the Basin this week­end. It was won­der­ful to watch this great trib­ute with the man him­self and his fam­ily.

Go see The Second Test – it runs at BATS until Sat­urday 27th March.

Jonny Brugh and Bob Blair at BATS Theatre after The Second Test.