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.