New Zealand captain Ross Taylor will head into the test series against South Africa without any time at the crease, after the weather bomb played havoc with the Plunket Shield today.
Taylor, Dan Vettori, Trent Boult, Brent Arnel and Chris Martin, were scheduled to play two days for their provinces before joining up with the Black Caps for the first test in Dunedin, starting Wednesday.
For Taylor, that entailed one day in the field and one in the pavilion, after rain restricted the second day of Central Districts' match against Auckland. Napier was the only venue where the skies cleared enough for the players to take to the middle, and that was only momentarily.
Wellington v Canterbury
Wellington's clash with Canterbury was abandoned at the Basin Reserve early in the day, leaving the Wizards on their overnight score of 283-5, while Northern Districts were unable to add to the 143-4 they posted yesterday against Otago in Hamilton.