Cricket: Bay Oval leading international light

The Mount's Bay Oval is all aglow.

Expect Mt Maunganui's Bay Oval to turn on a super-sized game of backyard cricket on December 7 to celebrate the installation of floodlights.

The flick of various switches will enable their six new LED towers to bath the turf in lux suitable for any International Cricket Council fixture.

After raising $4 million, the ground is ready to host day-night matches. A sum of $3.3m was invested in the lights; the rest funded a replay screen, improved media facilities and an increase in the height of the embankment on one side, adding space for 2000 more patrons to take the capacity to 11,500.

The ultimate ambition is to host tests as Bay of Plenty Cricket and the Bay Oval Trust gain traction on the New Zealand summer schedule.

The ground made its international debut in January 2014 when Canada played the Netherlands in an ODI.

It has hosted three ODIs and three T20 internationals since.

This summer marks a shift in gears for the venue with New Zealand playing two T20s against the West Indies, one against Pakistan and an ODI against England. All the matches will make use of the new towers and bulbs.

Bay Oval Trust general manager Kelvin Jones said the installation resulted in a moment of truth this month.

"It was an exciting occasion, a huge relief ... and very bright. We haven't played a game yet but one is scheduled for sponsors and supporters on December 7."

Jones said the lights were a further sign of Tauranga's development as a city.

"This was a significant fundraising exercise with a lot of people and businesses buying into the vision.

"We undertook a process of getting support from the community and putting together a petition for council. We had great trust support; as an example, TECT [the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust] put $1m alone into the lights.

"Our vision snowballed. We've largely got off our backsides and driven this ourselves. There are always nay-sayers but you could probably count them on one hand. We've been rapt with the positive feedback from the vast majority."

At 50m high, Jones described the light towers as "quite a presence" on the Mt Maunganui horizon with some people saying they didn't know the ground was there until they were erected.

Jones said their next objective is clear.

"I'm a cricket purist, and so are the crew who work here.

"Hosting a test would still be the ultimate. I might walk out the door and feel like it's 'job done' if that happens. Until then we'll keep trying.

"A day-night ODI against England [set for February 28] will be the ground's biggest achievement so far, but we have always seen this as a test venue and developed it as such."