Way cleared for cricket to leave Eden Park

WELLINGTON: International cricket’s potential move away from Eden Park in Auckland came a step closer yesterday with the decision by speedway promoters to leave Western Springs in 2020.

The Western Springs venue, close to Auckland’s zoo and the site of numerous outdoor music concerts, had been earlier identified by the Auckland Council as a preferred permanent site for international cricket.

That decision was backed by New Zealand Cricket (NZC), which has become hamstrung by the redefined configuration of Eden Park into a mainly rectangular venue for rugby and the restrictions on the number of events it can hold.

‘‘There’s been a standoff between Regional Facilities Auckland and speedway for such a long time and I want to give credit to speedway for saying, ‘look, it’s time for us to move to a new home’,’’ Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said in confirming the agreement for speedway to leave.

‘‘It does free up the potential of Western Springs for further development, and of course New Zealand Cricket’s really interested in that . . . but that’s a little way down the track yet.’’

Speedway is expected to move to a new venue closer to Auckland’s airport in the south of the city in late 2020, with Western Springs to be redeveloped into a cricket oval capable of holding between 15,000 and 20,000 spectators. Eden Park has hosted international cricket since 1930 and been the site of several of the New Zealand team’s more memorable limited overs victories, including the semifinal of the 2015 World Cup against South Africa.

NZC, however, has been investigating leaving the venue for a number of years after its redevelopment for the 2011 Rugby World Cup which reduced the size of the playing area and produced short boundaries that would not meet International Cricket Council standards.

While it has remained a preferred venue for limited overs matches due to its capacity of about 50,000, it has hosted just three tests since 2006. —