South Island outrage at NZ Test program (18 August 1999)

18 August 1999

South Island outrage at NZ Test program

Comment by Peter Hoare

South Island cricket fans are outraged by New Zealand Cricket's announcement of the international schedule for the 1999/2000 season. There will be five tests and eleven one day internationals during New Zealand's longest ever international season, with all the tests and eight of the one dayers to be played in the North Island.

The South is the home of Canterbury, the leading province in domestic cricket in recent years, and Otago. Jade Stadium (formerly Lancaster Park), Christchurch and Carisbrook, Dunedin are both test grounds of long standing, but NZC says that the problem rests in the fact that both are also major rugby venues. Until recent years there were clearly defined breaks between the seasons, but the advent of professional rugby and the introduction of the Super 12 competition has meant that major fixtures are scheduled as early as mid-February.

Former test captain and Dunedin resident Glenn Turner complained that the precedence of rugby was another triumph for money over the best interests of sport.

The major beneficiary is WestPac Trust Park, Hamilton, home of Northern Districts, which stages a test against each of the visitors, West Indies and Australia. The Basin Reserve, Wellington also gets two tests so four of the five longer games will be played at venues which are primarily cricket grounds, with the remaining game in the three match series against Australia being at Eden Park, Auckland. Problems of effective strip preparation may also have played a part in the allocation, early experiments with portable pitches at the Jade Stadium being inconclusive as yet. It is probably no coincidence that the Hamilton and Wellington test grounds are regarded as the best playing surfaces in the country.

A major landmark will be the one day game against West Indies in Wellington on 8 January as this will mark the opening of the 30,000 capacity WestPac Trust Stadium, which will be the capital city's major venue for international sport of various kinds. Until such time as tests in New Zealand start to attract bigger crowds, five day games will stay at the Basin Reserve. Three of the five one day games against the West Indies will be under lights, as will all six versus the team from across the Tasman.

South Island fans will be further frustrated by the fact that live TV coverage of all international cricket will be restricted to pay channels for the first time. Some have voiced the opinion that their best chance of seeing test cricket in 'The Mainland' will be to develop a smaller ground to test standard.

Source :: CricInfo365