Cricket: A Black Caps Christmas in Napier

Bangladesh have visited McLean Park several times in recent years. Photo / Paul Taylor

The New Zealand Black Caps and Bangladesh will play two cricket internationals at McLean Park, Napier either side of Christmas Day this year.

The matches, announced today by New Zealand Cricket, are a 50-overs-a-side, Saturday one-day international (ODI) on December 23, and a Twenty20 match on December 27.

The ODI will be the third in a three-match series, following matches in Dunedin and Nelson, and the T20 match will be the first in a new three-match series - the other two will be played in Tauranga.

But McLean Park does not feature on following 2023-2024 summer tours by Pakistan (a five-match T20 series), South Africa (two five-day tests) and Australia (three T20 matches and two five-day tests), nor women’s matches involving New Zealand national side the White Ferns and touring sides Pakistan and England.

A venue for matches involving all the major cricket nations since its first five-day test in 1979 and first ODI in 1983, including New Zealand’s first floodlit home day-night ODI in 1996, McLean Park hasn’t seen men’s 50-overs-a-side ODI cricket since a Martin Guptill century propelled the New Zealanders to an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in February 2019.

The last men’s international cricket at McLean Park was a T20 match between the Black Caps and India on November 22, when rain forced an early end and a rare Duckworth Lewis System tie was declared, with India reaching 75-4 less than halfway through the 20 overs spent hunting down the Black Caps’ 161.

The Black Caps have had six T20 internationals at McLean Park, for two wins over Bangladesh (2017 and 2021) and losses to England and Pakistan. One other match was washed out.

Hawke’s Bay Cricket CEO Craig Findlay said while there was some bartering for preferred matches in the busy schedule, the region had to take what it could, be happy with what it got and support the matches.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in sports reporting news gathering, including breaking news, local events, issues, and personalities.