Ex-Black Caps stars survive horror crash

Former Black Caps stars Simon Doull and Mark Richardson were "lucky to be alive" after walking away from a serious car crash in torrential rain on Friday.

The pair, now cricket commentators with Sky Television, were driving through the Kaimai Ranges to Auckland on their way back from Tauranga after the cancellation of a domestic Twenty20 match.

They were accompanied by statistician Francis Payne.

The drama began when a runaway wheel from another vehicle, which ended up in a ditch, hurtled towards the Toyota Camry rental car driven by Sunday News columnist Doull and struck it on the front passenger side.

The impact sent the Toyota skidding across the road and into the path of an oncoming truck.

"I was driving and Riggor (Richardson) was sitting in the passenger seat," Doull said yesterday.

"Suddenly, he yelled and out of the corner of my eye I saw this object coming straight for the car.

"At the last minute I tried to swerve out of the way and then there was this huge smash in the front left-hand side.

"It spat us straight across the road and into the path of oncoming traffic.

"I was trying to steer and the car was like a dead weight and wouldn't steer at all. I thought we were going to skid straight into a truck.

"Luckily, I just managed to straighten it up but by that stage we were probably about two metres over the yellow line and on the wrong side of the road."

Doull said the trio managed to get their vehicle out of the path of oncoming traffic and into a driveway before calling for assistance.

"We were so lucky we got out of it alive," he said.

"I honestly think I am lucky to be here talking to you today.

"I could have reached my hand out and touched the bloody truck on the other side of the road. Nobody got hurt. It was just amazing."

Friends picked the three men up and their first stop was a pub in Matamata for what Doull described as "two stiff shots of Southern Comfort".

- © Fairfax NZ News