New hospital in overdrive

FLUSH with cash.

The loos at the University of Otago Oval are about to be upgraded.

Minister of Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson announced yesterday the Government was providing $2 million to improve the facilities at the five venues for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.

The facilities were mostly designed with men in mind and the funding has been allocated to make them genderneutral and of a standard befitting the world’s best players, Robertson said.

“Genderneutral facilities are lacking at all levels of the sector and this needs to change to encourage more women and girls to participate in sport,’’ he said.

“As well as providing highquality and safe facilities for the Cricket World Cup teams, they'll provide an example of what good inclusivity looks like for everyone using the changing facilities regardless of gender, reducing barriers to participation.’’

Work upgrading the facilities at the University Oval will include improving the changing rooms and installing new seating and lockers to support both summer and winter codes.

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 chief executive Andrea Nelson said the Cricket World Cup 2022 legacy will ‘‘improve the experience of our women and girls in cricket for future generations’’.

The Basin Reserve is the first of five cricket venues to be upgraded. The other venues set for upgrade are Seddon Park, Hagley Oval and the New Zealand Cricket high performance centre at Lincoln University.

The $2 million investment in Women’s Cricket World Cup venues follows an initial $7.3 million allocation for World Cup venues announced as part of the $265 million sport recovery package.

The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 match schedule is due to be announced next month.