Ashburton County had incorrectly believed that the match was scheduled to be played on 29 and 30 December 1982. When the team had not arrived at Ashbury Park by 10.30am on 27 December, the South Canterbury President, Maurie Smith, rang his Ashburton County counterpart, Pat Zouch, to inquire at the whereabouts of the Ashburton County team. Overnight rain had caused pools of water which had to be mopped up but apparently this was not mentioned in that initial telephone call. The umpires inspected the pitch at 11.30am and decided that it was fit to start at 1pm. This information was then passed on to Mr Zouch at 11.45am but he then forfeited the match because he could not get his team to Timaru in time for the delayed start. The dates for all the Zone 5 Hawke Cup games had been agreed at a meeting of the 5 Minor Associations in May 1982 but the Ashburton County Secretary had apparently written the dates down incorrectly for this fixture.