Carl the Kangaroo is a celebrity at Saxton Oval, but he has plenty of colourful competition as Scottish and Bangladeshi fans support their teams. Photo / Getty Images
Carl the Kangaroo is a celebrity at Saxton Oval, but he has plenty of colourful competition as Scottish and Bangladeshi fans support their teams. Photo / Getty Images
It's hard work sitting in the sun all day in a kangaroo suit.
Carl, a 26-year-old from Adelaide, who briefly tilts up the head of suit to better converse, is in Nelson for the ICC Cricket World Cup match between not-so-super powers Bangladesh and Scotland " teams going nowhere in a tournament that ambles for a good month before really getting started.
The same can't be said of Carl. He owns a vending machine business, and has been saving up airpoints to help the budget required to attend as many matches as he can on both sides of the Tasman. He's up to number 10, or maybe 11. It's a bit hard to tell as the suit muffles his voice.
Unsurprisingly, Carl is a minor celebrity. A handful of overs into the match he's been interviewed for TV. Every now and then school kids descend on him in a gaggle of high fives.
Surprisingly, for a man who spends the bulk of his days sweating profusely in a kangaroo suit, Carl has a girlfriend with him. In fairness to Alysia, Carl didn't mention the kangaroo suit when he invited her on his cricketing odyssey.
He isn't the only one in need of the facilities. Saxton Oval is well over half full, the majority of the jovial crowd of 3491 supporting the Scots. While plenty of the tartan wig-wearing fans are clearly Scots for the day, there's a also a good smattering of genuine Jocks, whose passion for fried food and beer knows no bounds.
The Bangladeshi fans " clad in blue denim jeans despite the glorious sunshine " are mainly clustered in two groups on opposite sides of the ground. They're an energetic bunch, chanting and clapping as their bowlers chip out a couple of early wickets.
They pipe down a bit, though, as the Scots steady and then start pouring on the runs, mainly thanks to Kyle Coetzer, a man who sounds like an African import but was born in Aberdeen and speaks with a broad Scots accent.
Coetzer is playing the innings of his life and the Scots are on their way to a record score of 318. Great weather, great crowd and a cracking game. Back at ICC CWC HQ, Therese Walsh is probably not bothering to suppress her grin.
Things could hardly be going better for the woman in charge of running the New Zealand leg of the event.
World cup fever is alive and well, and it's not restricted to the major metropolitan centres when the Black Caps sweep into town.
Walsh and her administrative team had hoped a spirit similar to the 2011 Rugby World Cup " when lesser nations were enthusiastically embraced in the regions " would develop. But there were no guarantees.
"It was just extraordinary," says Walsh of the atmosphere when the West Indies and Ireland met in Nelson.
"Everyone is engaged, excited, it's fun and it looks great on TV."
Fans have turned up, and about 75 per cent of seats are filled. Walsh would have taken that in a heartbeat had she been offered it a year before the event.
"Cricket in New Zealand does not have a history of selling out," she points out. "It's quite unprecedented what is happening. And we are not just doing it once. It is 23 matches across six weeks. To keep that level of attendance across week days and games that don't feature the Black Caps across that length of time and across the country is quite phenomenal."
With plenty of big games to come, the figure is expected to rise.
It must be asked, though, did Walsh and her team just get lucky? The Black Caps' transformation from perennial disappointment to top-form contenders could not have come at a more perfect time.
"The country is really behind them and thinks they are as good as anyone in the world right now," says Walsh.
"That is a really big part of it. But I guess it is a blessing and a curse. If people become too obsessed with the national team you do lose your focus on these other countries. But at the same time it is great because it gets the country really fired up and patriotic."
Bangladeshis are certainly a patriotic mob. There's consternation among a throng of reporters in the media centre that they'll need to break all sorts of records to overhaul Scotland's impressive score.
Scottish bowling, though, is made for breaking records.
An early wicket falls but the Bangladeshi batsmen don't seem too perturbed. Tamin Iqbal and Mohammad Mahmadullah start smashing the ball to all parts of Saxton Oval. A Bangladeshi fan brandishing a cuddly Tiger leads a conga march around the ground.
A fat bloke in Tui shirt leaps out of his chair and drops hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cricket ball at his feet in a ham-fisted attempt at a crowd catch. Carl is down near the boundary, signing autographs.
A Scotsman gets abused for lighting a cigarette, but he didn't know it was a non-smoking venue and is apologetic, as is the bloke who fired up at him, because he didn't know that he didn't know.
The sixes rain down and the conga marches continue.
Seeing the writing on the wall, the Scots reload on the comfort food. Then it's over. Outside the ground three Bangladeshi TV crews are relaying the joyous news to viewers at home.
"Thanks for coming," says an ICC volunteer, clearly selected for the job because she's the world's friendliest woman.
"I hope you had a great day at the cricket."
MetService at odds with oracle
Cricket the cricket.
Insect oracle Cricket the cricket has predicted no result for the New Zealand and Afghanistan clash in Napier, possibly due to rain.
The weather boffins at MetService may prove to be more accurate than Cricket - they have forecast fine and dry weather at McLean Park, with easing westerly winds and a high of 25C.
Meanwhile, one punter put $40,000 on New Zealand to beat Afghanistan. The punter would get $41,200 back if Brendon McCullum's team won.
