Cricket: Hadlee finds a winning team

By JOSIE CLARKE

They are a winning cricket team and they played yesterday under the watchful eye of Sir Richard Hadlee.

And some people feel they shouldn't be in the country.

Fiji's national cricket side has been in Auckland since Saturday for the Pacifica Cricket Championship, with the Government's permission despite its tough talk after last year's coup.

The New Zealand Government has allowed Fiji to compete because the tournament is organised by the International Cricket Council, not New Zealand Cricket.

A similar argument was used to justify the appearance of Fiji at the World Rugby Sevens tournament in Wellington.

South Pacific politics was miles away from anyone's thoughts at Auckland University's Tamaki campus yesterday as Fiji beat Papua New Guinea by 14 runs.

Sir Richard, desperate for anyone to lift the New Zealand cricketers' slump of form, might have got some ideas. On display was Taione Batina, who scored 50 runs and took three wickets.

Talent spotting? "No," replied Sir Richard, convener of the New Zealand selectors. He and NZC operations manager John Reid were there as ICC ambassadors, not seekers of top order batsmen.

The Fijian team play the New Zealand Maoris in today's final and leave Auckland tomorrow night.

Team manager Ratu Semi Seruvakula said the Government turned down his application to stay either side of the tournament to play three practice games against Auckland teams because they were not part of the tournament.

Green Party foreign police spokesman Keith Locke said the visits by the two Fijian teams made a nonsense of the boycott.

"It sends the message that we talk strong about what should be done to return democracy to Fiji but when it comes to action there are so many holes. "