NZ vs ENG 2018: Second ODI Shifted Away From Mclean Park
Sep 20, 2017 at 1:15 PM
England is scheduled to tour New Zealand in February 2018 for two Tests, five ODI’s and a sole T20I. The tour will begin with the limited over format. The five-match ODI series will start from 25 February in Hamilton. However, the second ODI which was scheduled to be played in Napier on 28th February has now been shifted to Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui due to a delay in re-turfing if the ground.
An official from New Zealand Cricket told the media that the match had been shifted after inclement weather affected the supply of grass. Grounds in New Zealand undergo some renovations during the off-season and weather plays a key factor in the process.
Mclean Park has been under the scanner for over five years now. The stadium was dropped from the Test roster because of poor drainage, despite going repairs before the start of 2015 World Cup. In the last home season, an ODI between New Zealand and Australia had been called off without a single delivery was bowled due to wet outfield despite sunny weather had followed the morning rain.
NZCA had moved their ODI against South Africa away from the ground because of the risk of poor drainage had loomed ahead of the ODI.
Napier city council Wayne Jack said in a statement, “This is not the outcome we wanted or were expecting — we were very much looking forward to the Black Caps meeting England here at McLean Park, However, we’ve been advised by our sportsground turf specialist up in Auckland that the volatile weather conditions have obstructed the opportunity to get this specialised grass grown and we haven’t been able to access the 7,600 tonnes of special grade sand we need to lay the carpet in time. Sadly, despite huge effort on all sides, these are factors outside of our control.”
New Zealand cricket has planned to spend NZ$ 900,000 on a complete renovation of the ground and drainage system.