It seems that, once again, there's no room at the inn for Mary.
That's Mary Waya, star shooter of the Malawi netball side, who arrive today for the World Netball Championships in a quandary.
The Malawi Queens, as they're affectionately known, will sleep easily in downtown Auckland before
preparing for the opening match of the world tournament against the Silver Ferns on Saturday night.
But Malawi have not booked enough beds for their stay, and have found themselves one night short at the end of the tournament - with nowhere to go.
With inner-city accommodation hard to find, World Netball Championship officials were yesterday trying to find somewhere for the Malawi Queens to lay their heads on their final night in New Zealand.
It's not the first time the Malawi team have turned up in New Zealand with problems. At the 1999 world championships in Christchurch, they arrived four days late, delayed by a hurricane, and turned up without playing uniforms. A local sportswear company footed the bill and outfitted the team.
Malawi share the billing as top African nation with former world championship runners-up South Africa. They play a unique, unconventional style of netball - famous for rattling opposition by passing the ball between each other for minutes on end before attempting a shot at goal.
