Sevens: Oval upgrade shaping up nicely

Bay Oval is getting an upgrade ahead of a busy schedule of matches. Photo / George Novak

Summer has come early at Bay Oval.

Afghanistan, the first of the three international teams to grace the venue over the next month, will hold their first outfield session today at a venue that has changed markedly since it hosted World Cup qualifiers last summer.

Since then, the car park and grass embankment have both been extended, lockers have been added to the changing rooms and work has begun on a mixed concrete/grass terraced seating area in front of the pavilion that will be capable of accommodating about 500 patrons.

The last pour is scheduled for Wednesday and it is hoped it will be completed in the next 10 days.

Next on the agenda is a concession area complete with TV platform and scoreboard at midwicket on the grass embankment and a permanent sight screen and media/TV platform for the area between the extended embankment and pavilion on the north-eastern side.

Bay of Plenty Cricket Trust general manager Kelvin Jones has the best seat in the house, with his desk facing the ground strewn with concept drawings including provisions for lighting towers.

"We're part way through a pretty significant development," he said.

"We're spending the best part of $800,000 in a very, very short space of time."

Time is of the essence, with Jones saying he hopes both the new structures will be in place by the time South Africa's first one day international against the Black Caps is played on October 21.

"You'll see the concession area take shape in the next week. The foundations are in for that, it's all constructed off site, so it will be brought in and clipped into place."

Jones said ground improvements, along with the venue's proven ability to host early season fixtures, gave Bay Oval a point of difference that could translate into more high class fixtures in the coming years.

"Our drainage is the best thing we have got going for us, in terms of the outfield. It still rains as we know, but it can pour down and we can be playing cricket within half an hour of the rain stopping.

"Basically there is nowhere else in the country that can offer that. The other thing at that time of the year as well is that most of the venues have still got rugby going on."

He believed opting not to bid to host World Cup games next year had proven to be a wise decision.

"By the time of bidding, we didn't have a pavilion so it was just too hard for us to know where we would be - that was 18 months ago.

"To be honest, if we had got World Cup matches here, with all due respect, we would have got a minnow nation playing another nation.

"Whereas now we are probably better off having the Black Caps against the number one-ranked team in the world - that would never have happened in a World Cup."

Afghanistan are set to play Auckland on Thursday.

Upcoming games
Afghanistan in the Bay of Plenty
October 2 v Auckland @ Bay Oval
October 4 v Auckland @ Bay Oval
October 7 v Northern Districts @ Bay Oval
October 9 v Northern Districts @ Bay Oval

Provincial Pre-season
October 6 Northern Districts v Auckland @ Bay Oval

Ireland in the Bay of Plenty
October 12-15 Arrive and train @ Bay Oval

One Day Internationals
October 21 ODI - Black Caps v South Africa @ Bay Oval - 10.30am start
October 24 ODI - Black Caps v South Africa @ Bay Oval - 10.30am start