Visiting South African cricket umpire enjoying Northland

South African Brad White has seen enough native bush and volcanos to last him a lifetime in the short while he has spent in New Zealand.
The Johannesburg-based first-class cricket umpire is on a three-week exchange programme, which has been run for the past 13 years by the NZ and South African Cricket Associations.
"The up-and-coming umpires in each country are nominated by their association and I was lucky enough to be selected to come here.
"It's my first time in New Zealand and so far it has been a great experience seeing how umpires do their job here compared to at home," the 40-year-old White said. On his arrival in New Zealand last week, the former first-class cricketer, who played for Border, Easterns and Transvaal during the late 1980s to 2001, stayed with his uncle who lives in Auckland before heading to Northland.
"He is a fitness freak and mad hiker - so I have seen plenty of bush, and he is also into geology - so I have seen more volcanos than I ever thought I would ... I've seen some of the beaches up here - it's very beautiful and not what I expected it to be like at all."
Since Monday, White has been umpiring the match between Northern Districts Knights and Wellington Firebirds at Cobham Oval.
After the four-day match in Whangarei, White will head to Hamilton to stand in ND's next clash against the Auckland Aces, from March 17-20.
He will then meet up with New Zealand first-class umpire Evan Gray, who was chosen as this year's participant for the exchange in South Africa.
The exchange was a dream come true for White, who switched from playing cricket to umpiring the game nine years ago. "This is my second year on the A-Panel in SA, which means I can umpire first-class games. My aspiration is to become a test umpire and this exchange contributes to my progress there."
The standard of cricket he had seen so far had been impressive.
"The conditions are very different and the wicket is a lot slower ... but the standard seems to be very good - and the game is played in good spirit - all the cricketers have made me feel at home out there - I've had guys talking to me while I'm umpiring ... the majority of cricketers are generally very nice guys," he said.