Kane Williamson Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
By Simon Wraight
The first day/night test match in New Zealand on 22 March 2018 was also the last test played at Auckland's Eden Park.
Cricket focused venues with smaller capacities such as Wellington’s Basin Reserve and Christchurch’s Hagley Oval have been favoured for the game’s longest format.
But that could change soon, with plans to develop Colin Maiden Park in Auckland’s eastern suburbs.
In Auckland Cricket’s 2022/23 annual report it is stated that "the Board has identified Colin Maiden Park as its preferred future venue and sees significant potential for Colin Maiden Park to become a critical part of Auckland Cricket and New Zealand’s high performance cricket infrastructure".
"The intent is to build an environment that creates a new test venue in Auckland that can have the same status as others around the country and comply with NZC requirements.
"We have the full support from NZC for this process and hope to engender the support of the wider Auckland cricketing community for this move."
But it was a move that has divided some in Auckland’s cricketing community.
While there was support for the need to build a test venue, there was debate as to whether Colin Maiden Park was the right place to do it.
Under this arrangement, Auckland Cricket would be based at Colin Maiden Park, which would host first-class and test cricket, while one day internationals and T20 internationals would be hosted at Eden Park.
Smaller venues such as Christchurch's Hagley Oval have been favoured to host test cricket. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
For cricket commentator and journalist Dylan Cleaver, Auckland misses a lot by not having test cricket in the city.
“It misses a lot of cricket’s heart and soul. Quite frankly Auckland hasn’t had a workable test venue for a number of years.
“It’s the largest city in the country by a mile, it’s got the most young cricketers in the country by a mile, most impressionable young cricketers, and they very rarely get to see someone like Kane Williamson, arguably NZ’s greatest player.”
But Cleaver does not mince his words when describing the current plan to upgrade Colin Maiden Park.
“What it is is completely unsatisfactory.
“I think it’s an awful idea, I think it’s a misguided idea.
“I can’t believe it’s actually got to the point where it looks like it’s going to happen.”
This strong opposition to Colin Maiden Park being the preferred venue was echoed by Takapuna Cricket Club chairperson Rob Jones.
“The key issue is accessibility. If you look around New Zealand, and most countries around the world, your main cricket oval is pretty close to the centre of town.”
For fans travelling from the North Shore, south Auckland or out west, Jones believed that Colin Maiden Park was not a location that was easy to get to, and that could have an impact on kids becoming fans of test cricket.
“You can’t get your kids there, and that’s where you want to grow the game, is being able to see the Kanes and the Trent Boults of the world.”
While Cleaver and Jones were frustrated by the outcome of the Colin Maiden Park development, former Black Cap wicket keeper and Maungakiekie-Tāmaki local board member Peter McGlashan saw Colin Maiden Park as the best place to develop a test venue over time.
“There’s very few green spaces in Auckland where the canvas is blank enough that you can build a test ground over time and get to a finished product which is going to work for both Auckland Cricket and New Zealand Cricket.”
Colin Maiden Park has also had a history of hosting first-class cricket.
“The great thing about Colin Maiden is it’s been used for high quality cricket for a long time already, so the bones are there, you’d just need to update it in stages to eventually get to something which would serve that purpose.”
In a presentation to the Ōrākei Local Board in March last year, Auckland Cricket chief executive Iain Laxon laid out a timeline for the development of Colin Maiden Park, indicating hopes to have the first test match at the venue in December 2027, subject to consents, approval, and funding.
As the debate over Auckland stadiums continued, test cricket fans in the city will only be able to watch on as test cricket was played in Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.
