Top practice nets at Carisbrook for the new season

Carisbrook will become a leader in the New Zealand game with the establishment of a new practice facility this season.

An enclosed nets system, based on that used at the Sydney Cricket Ground, will be built and in use within the next two months.

A joint venture between Carisbrook's owners, the Otago Rugby Football Union and Otago Cricket, the nets will feature eight pitches with a fully retractable roof on two at any one time. Each pitch will be four metres wide and will be enclosed by netting four metres high.

They will be built on ORFU land adjacent to Carisbrook and will allow teams and individuals to practice while play is in progress on the main ground. They will come into immediate use with Carisbrook hosting three State Championship matches before the New Year, six games in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in January, and the New Zealand/England One-Day International in late-February.

The pitches will comprise the same Kakanui soil as used in the Carisbrook block and which has seen groundsman Mark Perram produce some of the best playing sufaces in the country in recent summers.