International cricket poised to return to Napier's McLean Park

Contractors roll-out 900kg rolls of new hybrid turf at McLean Park. Photo / Warren Buckland.

With Napier's McLean Park's brand-new turf being laid, the stadium's owners are "confident" international cricket will be played there this summer.

Australian company HG Sports Turf, which also turfed the MCG in Melbourne, the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, and Wellington Regional Stadium (Westpac Stadium) this week began laying special "hybrid" turf as the $4.9m stadium redevelopment programme nears its end.

Speaking to Hawke's Bay Today, Napier City Council chief executive Wayne Jack said the final turf-laying phase of the project would be finished inside the next eight days.

"The process has gone extremely well. The team have done a fantastic job of managing the project, it's been quite complex once we've removed nearly half a metre of the old base-layer to McLean Park but now they are in the final stages."

The redevelopment also included a new cricket block.

The green carpet gets laid out, hopefully for international cricket in the not too distant future. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND

"We have one drop-in wicket in and we have retained four other permanent pitches as well until we get more confident around the use of the drop-in."

Jack said the council had worked closely with New Zealand Cricket to keep them informed of progress.

"They've been extremely supportive of the project, we're looking forward to getting international cricket on McLean Park. They have some announcements coming out in the not-too-distant future, and we're looking forward to seeing what McLean Park gets for next summer.

"I'm pretty confident that we will have something for next summer."

Napier has not hosted test cricket since February 1979.

Roll up, roll up - it's a slow but steady job laying turf at McLean Park. PHOTO WARREN BUCKLAND

A Chappell Hadlee Trophy transtasman one-day match planned for last summer was abandoned without a ball being bowled, due to poor drainage.

Another match a month later, between New Zealand and South Africa, was transferred and the rest of a March 2016 commitment to five internationals over the next two summers was scrapped.

Jack added, once the new turf was laid, there would be a lot of monitoring to check conditions.

"The turf has now got a whole lot of monitoring systems in place to monitor moisture content, to work out what's the right amount of irrigation to put on it, so there will be alot of further work going forward.

"The drainage has all been replaced so there are much better systems in place. We have a much better pumping station, which has been put in as well. There will be no issues as far as drainage."

The project included excavating the oval to a depth of 45cm and hundreds of truckloads were brought in and out.

Soil was taken to be laid on the foreshore reserve beside State Highway 2 between Napier and Awatoto and 5000cu m of sand was moved in from outside Hawke's Bay and blended on site during the laying of the new drainage.

NCC project management team leader Jamie Goodsir said contractors would work seven-days a week for the next 10 days to finish laying the turf with specialised equipment.

The turf itself was a hybrid, which included artificial fibres in the lower portions of the turf.

Those fibres allowed grass to grow back quickly for rugby games after being cut shorter for cricket but they would not penetrate through to any playing surface.

Goodsir added that residents surrounding the ground had been "really supportive" of the work.

Work is expected to be finished before the ground's next sporting fixture - a Mitre 10 Cup rugby match on September 2.