Snow to sea level in Christchurch has left Blackcaps, Bangladesh and Pakistan players freezing, as they prepare for their T20 tri-series, which begins on Friday at Christchurch.
The ground was covered in a blanket of snow on Thursday morning, but despite that, ground staff are expecting to be ready to go by Friday.
The home summer of cricket begins at Hagley Oval on Friday afternoon, and for groundsman Ash Head, Thursday morning had a chilly feel.
"Yeah, this is pretty unusual," he told Newshub.
"We normally don't even have domestic cricket this early so we always knew it was going to be a challenge, but to throw snow in the mix is something completely new."
The Blackcaps sought greener pastures in Lincoln on Thursday, but even indoors, beanies were a popular choice for many, including coach Gary Stead.
"It's cold not just for Bangladesh and Pakistan, it's cold for us too," he said.
They will be out of the comfort of the greenhouse soon though, as this weekend they will face brisk conditions with evening matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"Fielding is obviously a little bit of a challenge," Blackcaps all-rounder Daryl Mitchell said. "I guess catching bare hand, it can be tough."
But that's just part of the job, as they ramp up preparations for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this month.
"I guess the challenging thing for us is working back from 22nd of October when we play Australia, and in that period of time, we've got seven games in about 10 or 11 days," Stead said.
Despite Hagley Oval being a whiteout on Thursday morning, the tri-series is expected to be all go when Bangladesh and Pakistan face off in the opening match on Friday.
"The pitch was fine so I expect it to be," Head said. "So expect it to still be pretty good ready to go for tomorrow afternoon."
