This from AAP at the ground.
NAPIER, Feb 2 AAP - Australia's ODI against New Zealand in Napier continues to be delayed by a sodden field, with both teams harbouring concerns about player safety.
The trans-Tasman match was listed to start at noon (AEDT) but that was when the covers, anchored at McLean Park throughout a dreary morning, came off for the first time.
Umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Chris Brown scheduled the day's fourth pitch inspection for 3:30pm. That has come and gone with no sign of play anytime soon.
Play must start before around 5:20pm, otherwise the clash will be called off.
An ODI can be shortened to 20 overs per side and still constitute a game.
Dharmasena and Brown inspected the pitch and field twice before agreeing on a start time of 2:45pm, with the contest reduced to 37 overs a side.
However, that became the time of a third pitch inspection when opposing captains Aaron Finch and Kane Williamson shared a long discussion with Dharmasena and Brown some five minutes before the coin was due to be tossed.
It's understood both Finch and Williamson declared the field wasn't fit for play.
Water came to the surface when both teams were warming up.
Finch and Williamson earlier convened on the cusp of the inner circle, with Australia's stand-in skipper none too pleased with the size of a divot created when he kicked the turf.
Finch, Williamson, Dharmasena and Brown had another animated chat after the third inspection.
In addition to the two skippers, management from both sides have expressed concerns to match referee Ranjan Madugalle.
The venue's drainage has been an issue. A one-dayer between New Zealand and West Indies in 2013 and last year's ODI between the hosts and Pakistan were both abandoned without a ball bowled.