KEY POINTS:
An Eden Park rugby vs cricket stand-off is holding up finalising England's cricket itinerary to New Zealand early next year.
And the issue is in the hands of the Eden Park Trust Board, which will meet on Tuesday to decide which sport holds sway.
The key date is Saturday, February 16, the opening weekend of the Super 14, when the Blues are expected to host the Chiefs in one of their six home games and before one of their biggest crowds of the round robin.
That's also the date New Zealand Cricket (NZC) wants to have the park for the third of its five planned ODIs against England - its single-biggest moneyspinner of the season.
NZC and Auckland rugby officials have met and, from cricket's point of view, all avenues have been explored.
The Blues can't move their game forward a night as that would clash with the Crusaders. Both teams are off to South Africa the next week. South African Super 14 teams won't change their dates and the New Zealand teams have to allow travel and rest time before playing in the republic.
For NZC, the issue is complicated. Within its five ODIs against its most financially rewarding visitors, it wants to use its three biggest money-spinning venues - Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland - for weekend games.
However, it doesn't want to risk Eden Park hosting a dead fourth or fifth match in the series if it is decided by the third game.
The schedule is due out next week, with three tests, the ODI series, Twenty20 games and a couple of non-international matches expected to be announced.
Part of cricket's argument will be the Eden Park Trust Act, which allows for the two sports splitting the ground on a six-month-apiece basis. If financial return is the key, cricket can argue the ODI would at least match, if not better, the rugby attendance.
"We've tried to work as much as possible with Auckland rugby and there were good intentions on both sides," NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said yesterday.
"But you can't have rugby and cricket on the park that weekend. It's an unfortunate sequence of events. It's just a fact of life we're going to have to work out how we manage these fixtures in the future."
NZC has looked at a wide range of alternatives, juggling its three key venues, and, for a variety of reasons, none work satisfactorily.
"It has to be decided by Eden Park [board] and we'll both abide by that decision," Vaughan said.
One schedule out is the NZ cricket team's trip to South Africa, which includes their first test in months. It will take place at the Wanderers in Johannesburg in November. Their last test was against Sri Lanka in Wellington last December.
The itinerary for their South African trip includes two tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 match.
It will be New Zealand's second trip there in the space of five weeks. They will contest the inaugural world Twenty20 championship in September.
After the South Africa tour, New Zealand will play the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series against Australia at Adelaide, Sydney and Hobart from December 14-20 and host Bangladesh, as well as England.
Who will coach New Zealand through that campaign should be known soon.
An NZC subcommittee is considering whether John Bracewell should be retained or replaced.
NZ SCHEDULE
* Nov 8-12: First test, Johannesburg.
* Nov 16-20: Second test, Centurion.
* Nov 23: Twenty20, Johannesburg.
* Nov 24: First ODI, Durban.
* Nov 30: Second ODI, Port Elizabeth.
* Dec 2: Third ODI, Cape Town.
