New Zealand Police have arrested two men who were caught pouring petrol on the field of play the night after the first day's play. The gentlemen in question, who were not named by the police, were trying to spell out `NO WAR' in two-metre-high letters on the bowler's run-up. They were apprehended by the custodians of the law before they could pour out the final letter, leaving bystanders not in the know confused about what `NOWA' could possibly mean.

Trevor Jackson, the groundsman at the Basin Reserve, said that the protest was clearly aimed at getting some cheap television publicity. "It's not going to hold up play," Jackson said, speaking to Radio New Zealand. "We are hopefully going to get some signwriters in later on this morning with some green paint."

Which war the protesters were referring to was cloaked in ambiguity. Perhaps they were referring to the ongoing Test match, which was anything but a contest.

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