England 58 all out
v New Zealand 175-3
close on Day One
1st Test, played at Eden Park Auckland
Thursday 22 March 2018
4 New Zealand Beer Ticks
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A bit of a con that. Let's show off. I've been to New Zealand before. Indeed, I saw Brian Deane win two of his three England caps out here. I've been to Cricket out here. And, a Rugby Union World Cup out here. I've had more than three NZ Beers. But. No lists were made. You see. Got to start somewhere. Starting here. Now. Three ticks.
Brothers Brewery & Juke Joint, Mt Eden, Auckland. Tardis. Bigger inside than it looks off the street. Very large brewing area. Multiple vessels. I had a good look around. Their own beers seemed to be poured straight from the tanks. I forgot to record a proper count up. On recall, I've got it as four or five of their own. Ditto guests.
Mount Brewing, Mermaids Mirth APA at 6%
Sawmill, East Coast IPA at 6.5%
Both of those were great. Neither tasted up to those abvs. The Mount Brewing one had lots of grapefruit upfront, before giving way to icing sugar. Tangy bitter finish, which stayed on the tastebuds. The Sawmill, started with some mandarin orange. But a rich, intense bitterness underpinned it all. Just a gentle hint of spice.
There is a great, but unexpected (we'd call it an) Off License just up the hill from Brothers. On a side street, down a gennel. In what for all intents & purposes is a converted garage. Hopscotch Beer Co. He's got a fairly smallish range of tins n bottles in the fridge. He's majoring on a wall of 30 taps. He'll give you tastings. But, it's not a bar. So you can't buy a glass & sup it. The basic model is he'll fill you bottles from the taps for carry ooots. I stuck with the program & got one he'd brewed himself. Mandrake, Jeff Sessions East Coast IPA. To be honest, he's a lovely bloke. But, it has to be said, a bit sketchy on abvs. We've shook on 4%. It was full of floral hoppiness. Lots of bitterness settling in by the end. But, retaining an easy drinking quality. Well put together beer.
Root at three. About time. Stand up. Be counted. He's in after 26 balls. He faces 6 himself. And he's out for zilch. Bowled Boult. That's not what we had in mind. At all.
Cricket gives you time to think & say stuff. With Boult & Southee bowling superbly. With Cook & Root gone at 6 for 2. With Stoneman & Malan at the crease. My exact, and verbally articulated, thoughts were; “from there, the trick is to burst through, New Zealand need to cash it in, and get us something like 40 for four”.
Stoneman was gone after 9.4 overs. We were 18 for 4. When Broad was ninth out, we were still thir fucking teen short of that 40. At twenty fucking seven for nine. Craigy O & Anderson have more than doubled that for the tenth. Overton, who was not fucking batting at three, has scored 33 (red fucking ink). Out of a total of fifty fucking eight all out. Fucking.
There are some easy target, cheap shots. So, let's take them. The warm up & prep games have been ridic. Two x two day shindigs in Hamilton. All bat, as many times as you want. England finished on 319 for FOURTEEN. Stoneman, Cook, Vince & Root all batted twice in that innings. They've practiced not bothering whether they're out cheaply. Because they can just have another go later. And, in the real arena, they've executed those skills superbly. Despair. I do.
The day was marginally improved by In Ground Beer. This is Pink Ball Day Night. In the cavernous Rugby ground that is Eden Park. With the delightfully appointed, but woefully named Oval Number 2, out the back. Cricket NZ are giving it a go. With a small picnic area, street food wagons & booze carts on the Number 2 fringes. Craft Beer was Billed.
OK. Go Previous. The Pouring Rights Holders are DB Breweries. Owned by Heineken, Asia Pacific. The Evil Empire. The craft offering will be a DB Imprint. But, hey, as good as it gets in ground. The first imprint of interest is Black Dog Brew Co. Wiki, etc has that as a Craft Arm actually created by DB. (As opposed to a real, true, craft taken over).
Black Dog Brew Co, Pug Life Extra Pale Ale at 4.4% That's a decent 'un. A good whack of hoppy bitterness. With some malt sweetness coming again. Surprised me tbh, a lot. Outside of England. That is Number 2 overseas in ground beer. (Behind the 6.4% Little Creatures IPA in the Adelaide Oval).
Now. We need rain. Biblical.
629/1311
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