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Canterbury deny criticising Auckland's approach after abandoned match

March 20, 2018

Canterbury Cricket denies questioning the approach of the Auckland team following the Plunket Shield match that was abandoned because of a dangerous pitch yesterday at Rangiora’s Mainpower Oval.

Canterbury chief executive Jez Curwin admitted they were deeply disappointed by what was only the second abandonment in the history of New Zealand first class cricket, but said they supported the umpires’ decision in the interests of player safety.

"At no point did we mean to question the motivation, spirit of cricket and/or tactics of the Auckland team despite what appears to have been said in the media," Curwin said in a statement.

Yesterday, Canterbury coach Brendon Donkers said the pitch had deteriorated marginally but claimed the different mind sets of the two teams was the reason his team was completely dominating the match.

Canterbury scored 485-6 in the first innings over the opening two days while Auckland collapsed to be 66-6 when the match was called off early on day three.

"They (Auckland) took that mindset that they were more concerned about the wicket," Donkers told 1 NEWS yesterday.

"All credit to our guys, not once did we moan about the wicket, think about not playing.

There were a couple of deliveries which did behave out of the norm, a couple took off, a couple stayed low."

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