New Zealand fans will have to paint their roofs this summer without the sound of cricket commentary in the background. Radio Sport has announced it will not be broadcasting live commentary on matches from the Plunket Shield, New Zealand’s domestic first-class competition. Instead they will have someone provide updates on the matches from online scores. Radio Sport will continue to broadcast live commentary from the domestic one-day and Twenty20 competitions. The move to cancel live coverage of the Plunket Shield has already caused a stir among New Zealand cricket fans, and an online petition has been started to change the radio network’s minds.

“Cricket is a sport that is made for radio commentary; it is the perfect backdrop to that other great NZ tradition of painting house roofs. Can someone please think of the roofs,” a petition on ipetitions.com reads. Dallas Gurney, the general manager of talk programming for The Radio Network, said listeners would not miss the action from the Plunket Shield since there would be updates. "Instead of running extended periods of commentary and crossing between the multiple games, we are going to have a commentator in a central commentary position providing updates on the games," Gurney said. “It is as much about providing the best possible coverage for our Radio Sport audience as it is any money that we might save by not having a commentator at every single Plunket Shield game.”

More than half a million dollars was raised for those affected by last month’s earthquake in New Zealand, as movie stars, cricketers and the New Zealand Prime Minister took the field in the Fill the Basin Twenty20 appeal match in Wellington on Sunday.

Among the big silver screen names present were actor – and cousin of former New Zealand captains Martin and Jeff Crowe – Russell Crowe and Ian McKellen, who shares a close association with New Zealand as part of the Lord of the Rings cast. As for the cricketers, Richard Hadlee, Stephen Fleming, Bruce Edgar, Andrew Jones, Nathan Astle, Mark Greatbatch, Geoff Allott, Rod Latham and Ewen Chatfield were all there.

The main attraction of the day though remained an over bowled between innings by Shane Warne to Prime Minister John Key. Key, who had supposedly had a ‘secret nets session’ on Saturday, whipped a low full toss for a boundary, for which $100,000 were donated to the cause. Well played Prime Minister!

Not content with holding the record for the fastest Test double-century, Nathan Astle is satisfying his need for speed in the world of sprint car racing. Astle, who retired four years ago, makes his debut at the Ruapuna Speedway near Christchurch on November 20 – just five months after getting into the sport. His bond with the race track goes back some time – he would accompany his father to Ruapuna - but the racing took a back seat as his cricket took off. Freed from such obligations now, he’s acting out his dream – and an expensive one at that, with Astle investing NZ$13,000 (US$10,000). His kids are happy, his coach is bullish on his prospects, and, though his mum is a bit worried, the son seems to be in his element. "When you're out there you forget what's around you and you kind of feel how fast you do go. You don't have time to think. You are down the straight and you're into the corner and same again. It's just having your wits around you." Deja vu, then, for the man who scored a century against Brett Lee in Perth.

He is one of the finest fast bowlers the world has seen and arguably the greatest cricketer to emerge from New Zealand. His spell of 9 for 52 that decimated Australia in Brisbane 25 years ago is a part of cricketing legend. Yet none of them seems enough for New Zealand Cricket; according to a report in One News, not only is Hadlee’s Brisbane performance not being honoured at NZC’s annual cricket awards ceremony, he hasn’t even been invited to the event.

When asked about this glaring omission, Justin Vaughan, chief executive of NZC said, “I’m not sure whether he got invited or not. We can’t invite every great player.” Wasn't it an oversight given Hadlee is the only cricketer from New Zealand in the ICC Hall of Fame? Vaughan replied, “No I don’t think so. We do this every year. Sir Richard gets invited to the Chappell-Hadlee games every time which is just fitting considering it is named after the Hadlees.” Ironically, the trophy for ODI batting, named after Walter Hadlee, Richard’s father, will be presented at the ceremony by Ricki Herbert, coach of the All Whites.

Jacob Oram once joked that he would consider cutting off his badly broken left ring finger to ensure he was fit for the 2007 World Cup. Three years on, and after another tournament in the Caribbean, Oram and his team-mates stopped by to visit the Florida Marlins baseball team while in town for their T20s against Sri Lanka.

“That's just crazy,” the second-baseman Dan Uggla said at the thought of playing an entire game without a glove. His shortstop colleague Hanley Ramirez had some advice: “They were telling me how they break fingers and hands all the time. I told them, ‘Maybe in the future you should think about wearing gloves’.”

The Miami Herald reported that several of the New Zealanders “shagged flies” in the outfield, which we’re assured is a baseball term and not a variant on the New Zealand-Australia “sheep-shagging” banter.

Ramirez strapped on some cricket pads and had a hit, though was confused at where to run, while Oram made the pitcher Josh Johnson lick his lips with the concept that: “Sometimes in cricket, you try to hit the batsmen to unsettle them.”

Oram has picked Johnson in a fantasy baseball team in the past; perhaps after this visit Johnson might return the favour.

What connects Ellyse Perry, Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine? All these women have represented their country in cricket as well as another sport. Perry also represents Australia in football, Bates was part of the New Zealand basketball team at the Beijing Olympics and Devine is a hockey international for New Zealand.

Add to that list: Liz Perry. Perry made her debut for the New Zealand women’s hockey team, the Black Sticks, last year and will play her first international cricket match at the World Twenty20 in the West Indies in May. “It has always been a goal of mine to play for two teams at an international level,” Perry said. "I never thought it would happen so quickly because the hockey international programme has kept me busy."

For 21 years, Stephen Boock had to live with the dubious honour of having the worst bowling figures in New Zealand first-class history, until February 28, 2010. The former left-arm spinner had his record taken away by yet another left-armer, Canterbury’s Jason Donnelly, in a Plunket Shield match against Northern Districts in Rangiora. Donnelly leaked 257 runs and took four wickets in 69 overs of toil as Northern Districts piled on 726. Boock’s experience was relatively more embarrassing, to put it mildly, as it came in a Test match, at Eden Park against Pakistan in 1989. On a pitch that was glued together, Boock sent down 70 overs, conceded 229 runs but took three wickets less than Donnelly. The main tormenters were Shoaib Mohammad and Javed Miandad, who scored 112 and 271 respectively.

After his record was taken away, Boock found time for sarcasm. "Another left-armer though, that's outstanding," Boock told the New Zealand Herald. "At least it's kept in the family." To rub it in further, the New Zealand cricket board launched a baseball card-type promotion and the write-up on the back of Boock’s card mentioned his forgettable record. "You would like to think that memories are made of more positive stuff," he said. "Mine, card No 24 I think, was the only one with a negative write-up, leading me to wonder about the intentions of the person who wrote it."

Ewen Thompson’s perseverance has been talked about in New Zealand domestic circles. Nothing can stop him from bowling, not even a kebab stuck in his throat. The Central Districts left-arm fast bowler bowled ten overs on the trot and even took a catch in the semi-final match against Canterbury at Village Green on Saturday despite a piece of meat lodged in his oesophagus from the previous day.

It blocked food and liquid intake which led to dehydration during the game. He was taken to hospital, placed on drips and the meat was removed.

"ET is kicking himself a bit because he is supposed to watch what he eats,” Central Districts manager Lance Hamilton told the Dominion Post. “He was in a rush to eat before training [on Friday] and he scoffed down a kebab and obviously some meat got stuck.”

The Essex allrounder Graham Napier is off to his namesake city, Napier, a fortnight earlier than originally intended, as he hopes to revive his hopes of breaking back into the England Twenty20 squad with a spell with the New Zealand state team, Central Districts.

Napier, 29, was originally intending to fly out to Napier on Boxing Day. Now, however, he will depart on December 10, and is set to make his CD debut on December 17, in a 50-over contest against Wellington, the team he represented in the previous two seasons of New Zealand domestic cricket.

“I see the next four months as being hugely important as far as my chances of breaking back into the England Twenty20 squad go,” Napier told www.grahamnapier.com. “There is a World Twenty20 tournament in May [in the West Indies] and I want to be part of that. There are eight England players currently contracted to the IPL so I must be regarded highly out in India.

“Now I want to be recognised again by England and will put in as much work as I possibly can to achieve something I’ve striven for my entire career – to play for the full England team in a competitive international.”

	Jesse Ryder: Pump up the volume © AFP

Ryder's in the storm, yet again. Jesse Ryder made the front page of the Dominion Post on Thursday after his neighbours in Lower Hutt complained he was hosting noisy parties where guests vomited and urinated on their property. The report also also said the neighbours were kept awake by party-goers doing burnouts on the street, and that festivities often continued from Thursday to Sunday.

While Ryder doesn't have a good-boy reputation - fined an unspecified amount last month for verbally abusing team manager Dave Currie after being dismissed in the 2009 Champions Trophy match against Sri Lanka, a highly publicised drunken incident during his debut ODI series against England in February last year, punching a pub window before abusing hospital staff after a match in Christchurch, standing down for an ODI against West Indies after sleeping through a team meeting - this latest incident would certainly be a cause for alarm for New Zealand Cricket (NZC), which has looked to keep a tight rein on him

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan, however, chose to distance himself from the allegations. "If it was a serious criminal matter there may be some implications but I don't really want to comment on it, Jesse's had enough airplay of late," he told the New Zealand Herald. "We are keeping close tabs on his recovery and rehab and that's going really well."

Ryder's manager Aaron Klee took exception to the neighbours airing their grievances publicly. "Is it abnormal for someone to have people or parties at their house? I've been working with him for 18 months now and the last six weeks is the hardest he's ever worked. I cannot be happier with what he's been doing." With Christmas and New Year's eve still to come, the feeling is mutual.

Stephen Fleming may not be interested in coaching his nation's cricket team, but he hasn't been lost to New Zealand sport entirely. The former New Zealand batsman turned football motivator this week on the eve of the All Whites must-win World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. "[Fleming] just gave us wee things to make us try and relax, and told us to just try and think of it as another game, get on with the job," said Michael McGlinchey, the New Zealand mid-fielder. "Ryan Nelsen and the more experienced guys pitched in with their thoughts as well and it was nice to hear what sorts of things they have to say." Victory over Bahrain in Wellington on Saturday would propel New Zealand to the World Cup finals for the first time in 27 years.

For the last five years Eric Tindill, a double international for New Zealand at Test level in cricket and rugby, has been cricket’s oldest living Test player. And two days ago, Tindill went past England’s Frank MacKinnon, who lived 98 years and 324 days, to become the oldest Test cricketer ever.

A left-hand opening batsman and wicketkeeper, Tindill toured England with Curly Page's team in 1937. On the way home he had the distinction of catching Don Bradman off Jack Cowie's bowling – the only time Bradman played against a New Zealand side. The match, between New Zealand and South Australia, was played in Adelaide to help cover debts incurred in England. Cowie and Tindill were delighted with their prized wicket, but others reckoned they cost New Zealand Cricket a fortune. Bradman was dismissed for 11 in the opening over on a Saturday morning and thousands of spectators, queuing for entry, simply turned around and left. Tindill also umpired in Tests and was a Wellington and New Zealand selector.

Tindill was also an international rugby referee and is currently the oldest living All Black.

Less than 24 hours after it rained sixes during the first Twenty20 international in Christchurch, New Zealand unearthed their biggest hitter. And it wasn’t Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram or even Ross Taylor. The batsman who smashed the ball 98.27 metres during the inaugural State Big Hits competition at the Basin Reserve in Wellington was a club cricketer Jimad Khan from the Onslow Cricket Club. He beat off some serious competition: Ian Butler was second with a 94.77m hit while Oram came third with 91.89m. Have New Zealand found their David Warner?

It’s fair to say Peter McGlashan was a surprise call-up into New Zealand’s Twenty20 squad for Sunday’s game against Australia. But his parents didn’t need to make a last-minute dash to the travel agent to get on a flight to Sydney to watch their son play.

They were already going to be at the SCG that day to watch their daughter Sara. You see, Sara McGlashan is part of the New Zealand women’s side that will play a Twenty20 against Australia as a curtain-raiser to the men’s game. In fact she probably has a better chance of playing than Peter, whose fate rests with the fitness of the first-choice wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.

"Mum and dad had planned to go to watch Sara and we've shouted my little sister to go over as her 21st present,” Peter said. “And I rang mum with the news and said could she track my passport down. She said 'why, are you coming to watch?' and I said 'I might actually be playing'."

One way or another it should be a familial affair for the New Zealanders. If McCullum’s sore shoulder doesn’t keep him out he’s every chance to play alongside his brother Nathan McCullum, who was called in as a Twenty20 specialist.

The once natural sun trap which provided shelter from New Zealand's notorious southerly winds to cricket fans on the grass bank at the eastern side of the Basin Reserve is in danger. The peaceful spot at 'The Basin', as Wellingtonians refer to it, may be disturbed by honking cars and exhaust fumes, if Wellington's administrators have their way.

Anyone with even a passing interest in cricket in New Zealand knows that the Basin Reserve, the gift of nature, is the best cricket ground in the country. But not so Wellington's pen-pushers, who have proposed to build a concrete flyover over the northern face of the ground, apparently to connect the second Mt Victoria tunnel that will lessen traffic jams that often occur at the one lane road in the course of the mountain.

Per the 1873 Deed of Trust which endows the ground to the people of the city, no thoroughfare was to be built across the ground. During the 1990s, it was discovered the actual boundary of the ground was one lane out on the road that encircles the ground. Since then, the venue's custodians have been tempted to solve the problems associated with increasing traffic usage in the city.

This could the most radical move yet, prompting the phrase "car-crash cricket".

The title might fit a countdown show for the latest pop songs but it concerns New Zealand Cricket's latest venture: a search for the batsman who can hit the ball farthest. The competition began on February 2, with the top batsmen from domestic cricket going head to head at Eden Park. A rather surprising winner was former New Zealand fast bowler Ian Butler, whose biggest hit measured 95.98 metres. A not-so-surprising outcome was Billy Bowden developing a special signal for shots over 70m. The competition runs for three weeks - regional public finals held during selected State Twenty20 matches will whittle down backyard batsmen and one representative from each region will be selected for the final - before concluding in Wellington, where six members of the public will go up against Butler and a player from New Zealand's limited-overs squad. Will IPL scouts be watching?

Martin Crowe is shifting to Sky TV's rugby channel, and has rubbished reports that he was ousted from his cricket commentator position because of a clash with New Zealand Cricket. Crowe said he was "flabbergasted" at a comment from NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan in a weekend newspaper that some members of the national team would like to see the back of him.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time I'm incredibly positive about the players, I certainly wasn't that way about the former coach but I felt some of the things he did were very odd," Crowe told the Sunday News."The only time I've been critical of a player was with Aaron Redmond recently and that just didn't come out right and I quickly retracted what I said."

Crowe will continue to commentate on cricket this summer. "I've just found 10 years [as executive producer] a year too long," he told the Dominion Post. "In a new post within Sky Sport I will look to resurrect The Chosen Ones documentary series and also look to increase numbers watching the Rugby Channel among other new initiatives. I couldn’t be happier."

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan is likely to talk to his counterparts at the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) as he explores ways to deal with Jesse Ryder's alcohol problem.

The move comes after the NZRU fronted the All Blacks player Jimmy Cowan and fined him after a series of incidents involving excess alcohol consumption, which helped him cut the booze. NZC took a similar approach with Ryder, dropping him from a one-dayer and fining him after his drinking session in Wellington.

"I would like to speak to the NZRU to understand the protocols the All Blacks had around Jimmy Cowan's publicised problems," Vaughan told New Zealand-based daily, the Sunday Star Times. "I think we can share ideas with each other, although we have to remember every case is different."