Bad light thwarts MCC at Arundel

Date released: 27 April 2008

Chasing a revised total of 217 to beat the New Zealanders at Arundel, MCC were 44-2 when bad light forced an early close. New Zealand scored 239-7 from 47 overs.

Aaron Redmond top scored for the New Zealanders with 72. John Stephenson and Rob Nicol both took two wickets apiece for MCC.

The New Zealanders team were captained by Jamie How.

• Listen to an exclusive lords.org interview with Jamie How (3.1 MB) .

Chris Cairns led MCC when they took on the New Zealanders at Arundel Park. It is the first fixture for New Zealand on their Test and One Day International tour of England.

Cairns, the former Black Caps all-rounder, was one of three New Zealanders hoping to secure bragging rights against his countrymen. He was joined by Nathan Astle, another former Test and One-Day International all-rounder, and Rob Nicol the Auckland batsman and former MCC Young Cricketer.

Darren Bicknell, fresh from his pink ball heroics at Lord’s – where he scored 132 not out to win the match against Scotland – opened the batting for MCC.

Adding further international experience to the team were Steve Elworthy, the former South Africa fast bowler, Paul Nixon, John Stephenson, Min Patel (all England) and Sean Ervine (Zimbabwe).

Speaking ahead of the match John Stephenson, MCC’s Head of Cricket, was looking forward to Sunday: "Touring team matches are always a highlight in the MCC cricketing calendar and Arundel is a fantastic place to play cricket.

"It promises to be a great day for players and spectators alike and, hopefully, an international scalp in the bag for the Club."

MCC team