New Zealand's ill-fated inaugural cricket test against Afghanistan has ended in ignominious — and historic — fashion, abandonned after persistent rain prevented play on any of the five days.
Scheduled for the neutral-ish venue of Greater Noida Sports Complex in India, due to the unstable political situation in Afghanistan, the fixture has become the eighth ever called off without a ball bowled. Three of those have now featured the Black Caps.
"It is still raining in Greater Noida and, due to frequent rains, the fifth and final day of Afghanistan v New Zealand test has been also called off by the match officials," said the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
While rain often receded during scheduled playing hours, overnight showers still left the ground unplayable, despite desperate attempts to repair the pitch.
"It's frustrating for us," conceded NZ coach Gary Stead. "It was our first test match against Afghanistan and we were really excited about that.
"They've been great competitors of us during the last few World Cups with great games of cricket. We had the World Test Championship just around the corner and the preparation towards that would have been really useful as well."
Stead reveals his players passed their time playing 'hallway cricket' at their hotel, "playing lots of spin".
"This was the first of six tests in Asia for us, so three more in India and two in Sri Lanka," he said. "That's the most disappointing part for us is we've lost that ability to be match-hardened and match-ready, when we go into our test match next week.
"The guys are really disappointed. It was a chance to play Afghanistan, which doesn't come around that often, and they have some unique bowlers which are always good to get your head around and the way they play is unique to other countries."
Afghanistan achieved their first-ever cricket win over New Zealand at the T20 World Cup in June, rolling them by 84 runs to effectively end Kiwi hopes of progressing past poolplay. The Afghans defied their modest world ranking — they're currently 10th — by reaching the semifinals, before losing to South Africa.
Last time a test was abandonned, the Black Caps and India were unable to trade blows at Dunedin's Carisbrook in 1998. Nine years earlier, New Zealand and Pakistan called their match off at the same southern venue.
With Afghanistan not yet part of the ICC World Test Championship, the lost opportunity has no bearing on New Zealand's standing in the current cycle — they're still third, behind India and Australia, with three wins and three losses.
The Black Caps will next take on Sri Lanka in the first of two tests at Galle, starting next Wednesday.
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