Olympics 2028: Cricket qualification system could leave highly ranked Black Caps and White Ferns on the outer
Cricinfo reports the ICC is set to confirm a continental qualification system which will be
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Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
‘Son of Queenstown' remembered
The late Bruce Grant. PHOTO: SUPPLIED If Queenstown's the world's adventure capital, no-one epitomised that better than Bruce Grant. That even applied to the tragic end of his life — succumbing to "the mother of storms" after becoming the first Kiwi to summit the world's second highest mountain, K2, without oxygen. Only 31, this 'son of Queenstown' — as he's described on a plaque in the Gardens — had already packed in a lifetime of adventures. Born in the Sydney St maternity home his family once lived opposite, Bruce's mum Ros, who's 93, was a teacher and his dad, the late John, a builder. The youngest of four siblings, he started skiing earlier than the others — "he sort of got dragged along", sister Christine, one year his elder, says. He attended primary and secondary school on Ballarat St, finishing at the latter's new Fryer St campus. Christine says then-skifield owner Mount Cook provided schools with ex-rental gear which Bruce started with. The pair would later miss a lot of school as they ascended the ranks to national ski team selection. New Zealand downhill champ for five years, he and Christine skied that discipline, under the influence of a Canadian coach, at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. Bruce finished 31st and was also chosen for the '88 Calgary Olympics, but an injured leg didn't recover in time for him to compete. He got into parapenting soon after it was introduced to Queenstown, first flying solo before becoming a commercial tandem pilot for eight years. After summiting many mountains, including Mt Cook seven times, he'd often ski or parapente off them, sometimes for films he starred in. One was The Leading Edge, for which Queenstowner Mathurin Molgat hired him after watching him ski The Remarkables. "He was an exceptional athlete, and he never said 'no'. "If you said, 'you want to do this, Bruce?' it didn't matter what the adventure was, he was in it." They even tried, before crashing, to mountain bike down The Remarkables' 'Elevator' chute. Mathurin found him the strong, silent type. "We drove up to Mt Cook and I think there were about four words exchanged. "He was a very content, self-contained character." Christine says he also meditated — "he was contemplative". A sculpture in his memory in the Queenstown Gardens. PHOTO: PHILIP CHANDLER In terms of extreme adventure, skiing down Austria's long and difficult Hahnenkamm run put him in elite company. His main mountaineering buddy was then-Queenstowner Kim Logan, who marvelled at some of his amazing Fiordland climbs. Although about 10 years his senior and more experienced, he says Bruce was mentally and physically the better mountaineer. "His safety margin was higher than mine." The pair were among rescuers who saved the life of a German backpacker on the Routeburn Track in extreme conditions, winning them all Royal Humane Society bravery medals. Kim recalls the police afterwards shouted them breakfast at Queenstown's then Gourmet Express and they got "absolutely smashed" on Irish coffees — "forget about the coffee, just bring us the Irish [whiskey]". The pair's '95 assault on K2, considered the world's most dangerous mountain, was preceded by a major community fundraising effort. Kim says he turned around just after Camp 4 —"it was my own condition and the weather" — and a few hours later expedition leader Peter Hillary did, too. Bruce and five others subsequently reached the summit, but all perished soon after when "the mother of storms" blew through, Kim says. Christine's sure if they'd had an inkling they wouldn't have summitted. "There was a very strong wind which was unforeseen really, in my understanding it came from the bottom up." Ironically, at the same time his brother Andrew, nicknamed 'Buzz', was experiencing a huge storm after summiting Mt Cook. When Kim returned to Queenstown, a memorial service was held in the Anglican church, after which hardy souls ventured in very wild weather to the Gardens where Christine's husband Dan Kelly's sculpture of a hand grasping an ice axe, in Bruce's memory, had been installed that day. At the time, Christine told Mountain Scene: "Bruce achieved a majority of his goals, there's not many people who could ski off Mt Cook, let alone fly. "He was aware of the fragility of human life in nature, he understood the reputation of K2 fully. "He achieved this goal, who knows what he would have achieved next?" Bruce Grant won every Dash for Cash he entered. Thirty years after his death, Sunday's Dash for Cash on Queenstown's Coronet Peak — a fundraiser for the Bruce Grant Youth Trust — is being held in his honour, from 2pm.
1News
6 hours ago
- 1News
Zimbabwe limps to 31-2 after NZ takes big lead in first Test
Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell missed out on centuries but New Zealand was still in command after day two of the first cricket Test against Zimbabwe overnight. Conway made 88 and Mitchell was the last man out for 80 as the Black Caps were bowled out for 307 in their first innings. New Zealand's fast bowlers then made early inroads by removing Ben Curran (11) and Brian Bennett (18) as Zimbabwe reached 31-2 at stumps, still trailing by 127 runs. Tall paceman Blessing Muzarabani was the stand-out bowler for Zimbabwe with 3-73, and Tanaka Chivanga ignited a middle-order collapse with 2-51 before Mitchell batted well with the tail-enders to give New Zealand a clear advantage. No. 9 batter Nathan Smith braved several body blows against Muzarabani's short deliveries before he finally retired hurt for 22 due to an abdominal tear. ADVERTISEMENT It is highly unlikely that Smith will bowl in Zimbabwe's second innings as he walked off in pain after being struck on the body by Muzarabani. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including fleeing driver hits house, severe turbulence hits US flight, and massive new bug found in Australia. (Source: 1News) Earlier, Zimbabwe couldn't have asked for a better start when Muzarabani had Will Young (41) caught at forward short leg off the first ball. Nick Welch moved timely to his left and grabbed a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Young before Henry Nicholls (34) and Conway produced a 66-run stand. Both left-handed batters were briefly troubled by pace bowler Newman Nyamhuri, when edges fell short of the fielders behind the wicket, before Conway lifted New Zealand past Zimbabwe's first-innings score of 149 with a straight-driven boundary off Nyamhuri. Nicholls, playing his first Test since Dec. 2023, completed 3,000 test runs when he reached 27 but gifted his wicket when he slashed Muzarabani straight to Bennett at gully. Sikandar Raza got some turn from the pitch and accounted for Rachin Ravindra (2), when captain Craig Ervine caught him at the second attempt as the lone slip. ADVERTISEMENT Conway was fluent with his driving, especially on the off side, bisecting the fielders against anything over-pitched by Zimbabwe's fast bowlers. But Conway, who hit a dozen boundaries, fell soon after lunch when Chivanga's short ball got big on him and Bennett took a smart head-high catch at gully. The fast bowler followed up with the wicket of Tom Blundell (2), who holed out at deep square leg. Nyamhuri (1-64) finally ended New Zealand's innings when Mitchell went for an over-ambitious ramp shot and got his middle stump uprooted off a full pitched delivery. The two-match series is not part of the World Test Championship, but it is the first Test between the two nations since 2016.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Deans finishes with personal best
Caitlin Deans (right), alongside Australian Moesha Johnson, looks at the board after the 800m freestyle at the world championships in Singapore yesterday. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Saving the best for last. Dunedin swimmer Caitlin Deans wrapped up an admirable world championships in Singapore with a top 10 finish and a personal best in the women's 800m freestyle yesterday. The Neptune swimmer touched the wall in 8min28.72sec in a big personal best, lowering the time of 8min29.3sec she set at the national championships earlier this year. Deans finished 10th overall in the 800m discipline after being drawn in a stacked heat against United States great Katie Ledecky, Australian Lani Pallister and German Isabel Gose, who are in the top four seeds for the final. Former Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather, also in the same heat as Deans, qualified sixth for tonight's final in 8min22.22sec. Earlier in the week, Deans, who represented New Zealand at the Paris Olympics, finished 13th in the women's 1500m freestyle in 16min13.16sec. Kiwis Zoe Pedersen and Laura Quilter, returning internationally for the first time since 2014, finished 24th and 29th respectively in the women's 50m butterfly. Lewis Clareburt. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY Olympian Lewis Clareburt set a New Zealand record on his way to finishing fifth in the men's 200m IM on Thursday. Clareburt collected his second personal best of the championships when he touched the wall in 1min57.06sec, lowering the previous record of 1min57.27sec from the Tokyo Olympics. French swimmer Leon Marchand, who set a world record in the distance during the semifinals, won gold in 1min53.68sec. Shaine Casas, of the United States, was second and Hungary's Hubert Cos won bronze. Quilter is back in the pool in the women's 50m freestyle heats and Andrew Jeffcoat and Finn Harland are in the men's 50m backstroke heats today. Fairweather will race in her final tonight and Clareburt will be out to defend his title in the men's 400m IM tomorrow.
