To paraphrase Kevin Costner's baseball-loving dreamer in Field of Dreams, build them and they will come.
But this time it's not a diamond carved out of a cornfield for legendary figures of the past to play on but the installation of floodlights to attract more international cricket. The North Islandhas them; the South doesn't.
In the modern international environment, and particularly with the dominant Indian market calling the shots, if you don't have floodlights, you have a big problem. You can't have day-night matches and therefore the chances of hosting the major players in short form games are diminishing. India's deal with New Zealand Cricket insists on day-night matches with specified start times. The money is too good for NZC to say no.
When NZC's international schedule for the coming summer was released this week, the lack of day-night matches in the South Island was stark.
New Zealand's five international-capable grounds with floodlights are Eden Park, Hamilton's Seddon Park, Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval, McLean Park in Napier, and Wellington's Westpac Stadium.
This season Hagley will have one ODI, against Bangladesh, but also two tests, Saxton Oval has a solitary ODI against Sri Lanka, while Dunedin fans will have to wait until February 19 to see one ODI against Bangladesh.
So what are the prospects for lights in the south to rectify the imbalance? Short answer, no time soon. Each of the three venues would like them, but there are distinctive factors working against them.
Hagley Oval
It's now rated arguably New Zealand's best test ground and has just been through a major development which meant the return of international cricket in 2014. It's hosted 18 internationals since then, including five tests. There had been plans to install retractable lights but Canterbury Cricket chief executive Jez Curwin said it is not the next order of business for the association.
Building the cricket-specific Hagley Sports Centre, including five indoor nets beside the oval, is next and Curwin said it is reasonable to suggest there won't be lights for at least three years.
Hagley has environment and resource issues to contend with and Curwin said getting 11 days of international cricket out of a total of 40 next summer is an outstanding result.
"The way international cricket is going and the strength of the Indian market, floodlights have to be on the agenda without a doubt," Curwin said.
"How that's going to manifest itself we're not entirely sure. There is planning consent there for floodlights, but at the moment there's a lot of question marks about the viability of the conditions we've got."
Saxton Oval
Saxton Oval in Nelson. Photo / Photosport
The Nelson City Council owns the ground, which has hosted 11 internationals since 2014.
One issue is the need to increase the capacity from its 6500, or have the ability to lift the number of fans temporarily.
"That's a work-on for us," said David Leonard, general manager of Nelson Cricket. "We are looking at a few projects but temporary seating is not popular so we're working with the council on that."
Making the ground more broadcaster-friendly is another point. Talks around that have been held with the council, NZC and broadcaster Sky.
"If we ever got to the point of satisfying requirements around those two things then quite possibly there's potential to have lights. You'd never say never but it's certainly not in our two, three or four-year plan."
Then Leonard got to the nub of the issue: "Are you going to spend millions of dollars on lights for one game a year?"
Geographically and climate-wise, Nelson would suit playing in the evening. But the sums have to add up.
He characterised their discussions with NZC as producing a "reasonably upbeat message, with a few little asterisks".
University Oval
University Oval in Dunedin. Photo / Photosport
There were plans about three years ago to install lights once an embankment was in place. But the Dunedin City Council "ravaged" the plan, according to Otago Cricket chief executive Mike Coggan.
"They were quite damning around the work we'd done on feasibility. They were putting up $1 million. At the time the embankment wasn't completed so they wouldn't give us the money for the lights."
NZC had stipulated the ground needed to house crowds of 6000.
The problem is how to justify spending perhaps up to $4m for lights when there are no guarantees how many matches will be played there in a season.
"In Dunedin you need to play in the day because it's so damn cold. Who's going to sit under lights in 7 degrees even in the middle of January?" Coggan said.
"I understand NZC's position but it's hard for our stakeholders to accept we're not seeing as much cricket as we did in the past."
Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, which handles business opportunities for other venues in the city, including rugby's Forsyth Barr Stadium, act on behalf of Otago Cricket.
"We're not going to see any more than one, at the most, two short-form fixtures down here (in a season).
"If we had [lights] that would change it, no doubt, but it's how you sustain capital and ongoing costs for essentially two games at night when it's cold. That's just the reality," Coggan said.
