Govt backing new Test cricket venue for Auckland

By Liam Napier

Colin Maiden Park has been identified as Auckland’s preferred test cricket venue. As those plans progress behind the scenes, they will find favour with the new Minister for Sport.

Cricket’s future has been largely lost in the latest instalment of the Auckland stadium debate, with multiple proposals for new rectangular, retractable-roof venues catering to rugby, league, football and concerts.

Cricket is the black sheep of Auckland’s sporting fraternity, though, with the need for an oval not aligning with other specifications to leave New Zealand’s largest city facing a future without the sport’s pinnacle five-day format.

In this regard, test cricket’s continued absence is a sad microcosm for Auckland’s long-standing lack of city planning.

While Eden Park, for now at least, remains a short-format host for international cricket, its compromised dimensions and concrete-jungle status make it unsuitable for tests. This is why Auckland last staged a test when the Black Caps defeated England by an innings and 48 runs in the day-night affair in 2018.

Senior National MP Chris Bishop, in the early stages of assuming the Minister for Sport portfolio, is reluctant to wade into the Auckland stadium saga but as a self-confessed cricket tragic, he could not resist the urge to push the case for an exclusive test venue.

“I’ve followed the debates over the years going all the way back to Trevor Mallard’s ill-fated pitch for the waterfront stadium. I am keen on learning more about the issue. In due course I want to sit down with the relevant bodies in Auckland, including council, and have a chat about that,” Bishop told the Herald.

“I’ve always liked the idea of a specific test cricket ground in Auckland. Test cricket in our biggest city tends to miss out these days because of the smaller audience and the five-day affair, you need the slightly more picturesque facilities.

“New Zealand Cricket seems much more interested in places like University Oval, the Basin, which I’m a huge fan of being a Wellingtonian, but it would be nice to see a dedicated test cricket venue in Auckland.

“That’s down the track, but there’s been proposals in the past and people are still keen on it so let’s have a look.”

Bringing that vision to life appears closer than Bishop and others realise, with Auckland Cricket and council progressing plans to develop Colin Maiden Park into a Hagley Oval-esque venue.

The first step is under way, with Auckland Cricket intent on moving away from Eden Park. Those plans include installing a Cravo training facility that features a retractable roof and greenhouse system to cultivate a variation of pitches at Colin Maiden.

Auckland Cricket’s Eden Park outer oval home is too small and endured recent health and safety concerns with balls hit out of the venue. Summer concerts also prove problematic to staging games there, with some requiring a three-week turnaround.

The Herald understands Eden Park, as part of a reimbursement agreement with Auckland Cricket, one of the venue’s two tenants, is expected to contribute $2 million-$3 million for the Colin Maiden move as well as offering the use of its ground staff for development purposes.

Auckland Cricket chief executive Iain Laxon declined an interview request but in a response for comment, confirmed the plans.

“We have gone through a detailed process that’s determined Colin Maiden Park is Auckland Cricket’s preferred location for a new venue,” Laxon said. “We are working with a range of stakeholders at the moment to progress that aim.”

Western Springs was long touted as Auckland’s solution to regaining test cricket, but with redevelopment plans blowing out from $12m to $91m, that option is understood to be off the table.

Flood risk concerns — after Wester Springs was hit hard this year — is another reason Colin Maiden, a civil defence emergency location, is now earmarked as the new home for cricket in Auckland.

Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson outlined the necessity for community sport and professional cricket to co-exist at Colin Maiden, with university club rugby, cricket, Aussie rules and Mt Wellington football using the recreational park.

Simpson is, however, confident an agreement can be reached to satisfy all parties before the July council deadline.

“If it’s approved and all ready to go, we should be ready for summer 2024-25 hopefully,” Simpson said.

“I haven’t found anyone who doesn’t think Colin Maiden isn’t a good location. Everybody is keen for it to happen. It’s just how you marry the existing with the future to fit everybody in there.

“We’re a bit space poor sometimes for our sport as a growing city. That causes us to be a bit clever with how we put things together. I don’t think it’s insurmountable. There’s a clear process for that. Auckland Cricket and council are working through that effectively.

“I’m very supportive of Auckland Cricket going to Colin Maiden Park and regaining test cricket in Auckland. I’m also conscious of the role of community sport. I’m after a solution that can do both — and I believe that’s possible. It’s going to need some creative thinking around that.

“Auckland is a great city and it should deliver opportunities for world-class sport in a number of fields. We have the ASB Classic tennis in January, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to see test cricket back here again. That’s what I want to see.”

New Zealand Cricket will have the final say on whether it plays a forward defence or welcomes Colin Maiden as a genuine fit-for-purpose test venue in future.

Boutique venues such as the Bay Oval, Hagley and the Basin are, after all, well-established test hosts.

While other barriers such as significant overlay costs of importing an electronic scoreboard and temporary seating remain, Auckland’s pitch to regain test cricket status rests with Colin Maiden Park.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission