Australia v New Zealand: first one-day international – live!

8th over: Australia 34-0 (Warner 21, Finch 10) Neesham on now and much to Warner’s delight, the left-hander cutting a wide one to the third-man fence.

7th over: Australia 29-0 (Warner 16, Finch 10) Boult continues his impressive spell, mixing line, length and speed to keep both openers on their toes. A trio of singles is the best Australia can muster.

Welcome, by the way, to a world with coronovirus in it.

6th over: Australia 26-0 (Warner 14, Finch 10) Over the wicket to the left-hander is a now thing of the past for Ferguson, who goes around the wicket to Warner. He switches for Finch and looks much more comfortable, holding a good line to both openers and conceding just one run from the over.

5th over: Australia 25-0 (Warner 13, Finch 10) Nice opening spell from Boult. He beats Warner’s outside edge with good old-fashioned line and length before straightening up and befuddling the leftie with pace and bounce. Two from the over. Good bowling from the Kiwi, who by now should have a wicket but doesn’t.

4th over: Australia 23-0 (Warner 12, Finch 9) Ferguson’s pace is good but his radar is way off and he is taken by both batsmen for boundaries. My, oh my, Finch should be back in the pavilion. But he isn’t. New Zealand might live to regret this.

3rd over: Australia 14-0 (Warner 9, Finch 4) Boult gets a short one to spit off the deck, enticing Finch into a hook shot. He gets nowhere near the shot and Boult is convinced he has his man caught behind. The umpire says no, Boult is aghast, a review is coming … surely … surely! But no, Williamson decides to keep the review in his pocket. Bad call. The ball fairly well ricocheted off the back of Finch’s bat. But he survives. Bad umpiring. Not very good captaincy. Warner then adds scorn to misery by punching one through the covers for the game’s first boundary.

2nd over: Australia 9-0 (Warner 5, Finch 3) Ferguson from the other end. Warner gets off the mark with a couple wide of midwicket before the seamer, over the wicket to the left hander, again strays down leg to go for two more.

1st over: Australia 3-0 (Warner 0, Finch 2) Finch is distracted by glare, or something, near the fence and asks for said something to be moved. One thing that said something isn’t is a rogue pair of novelty sunglasses in the stands. In case you didn’t get the memo, there isn’t a soul in attendance. Finch uses his feet to Boult but can’t get him away. And to be fair he did extremely well to keep a venomous inswinging yorker at bay. A wicket-taking ball if ever I saw one. Two to Finch late in the over are the first runs off the bat.

OK, we’re seconds away. Warner to take face, Boult to bowl…

Looking forward to seeing the players fitted in their retro kits. What’s your favourite Australia-NZ moment from the salad days of the 1970s and ‘80s?

Not sure this is anyone’s favourite moment, but here ‘tis anyway.

Cricket Australia has confirmed that, at this stage, Sheffield Shield matches will be going ahead as planned. A decision is yet to be made on whether fans will be allowed into the grounds.

There’s a joke in there somewhere, surely.

Not sure any words I can muster will add to this.

To the eerie backdrop of not a sod in the stands, Australia captain Aaron Finch calls correctly and wastes no time in electing to wield the willow.

“Looks like a nice wicket and a little on the dry side. So hopefully we can post a decent score,” Finch says. “It’s an unusual feeling to turn up and there’s no one around.”

On losing the toss, Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson says: “We would’ve had a bat.”

Enough said.

Hello and welcome to the first match of the revived Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Today’s clash at the SCG – the first since 2017 when Australia and New Zealand last met in a bilateral series – is one with a difference, however. Any contest, in any format, between these Trans-Tasman foes is invariably played out to a backdrop of raucous cheer, hilarity and usually good-natured ribbing between spectators. Not today. Today, the SCG is closed to patrons as the effects of coronavirus sink their talons into professional sport in Australia. Already the Australian GP has been cancelled by Formula One, Australia’s world champions women’s cricketers won’t be going to South Africa this weekend as planned and, now, the denouement to the endless summer for Australia’s men will be played to TV audiences only. Who knows where it will end. Out on the field, Australia will be looking to sign off in style – and, let’s face it, in one-day cricket they need to – while New Zealand, who’ve been sparingly tried in this format since last year’s amazing World Cup final, will be digging for hen’s teeth: a series win in Australia. Let’s get cracking. Want to get involved? You can do so by email or Twitter – @scott_heinrich.