Garden of Eden groundsman calls it a day

Head groundsman Mark Perham is leaving Eden Park after 11 years. Photo / Greg Bowker

Mark Perham has resigned as Eden Park head groundsman after an 11-year tenure.

The 43-year-old oversaw the ground's presentation for the Rugby World Cup and has been a key figure in the development of portable pitch and turf technology.

Perham finishes on September 15 and says his exit is amicable. His farewell will involve a few beers in the shed after the All Blacks' test against South Africa. The announcement of the cricket World Cup fixtures couldn't persuade him to stay.

"It can be demanding weekend work and I found I wanted to spend more time on my boat [a 30-foot Mustang 3200] fishing in the Hauraki Gulf. It has sat under-used for years at Westhaven [marina]."

Perham has organised some contract work with Hamilton City Council in the meantime. Seddon Park groundsman Karl Johnson is understood to be taking a year's sabbatical to work in the Middle East. Perham will also consult to a stadium in Asia and would like to do further work in America where he's helped install cricket pitches in the past.

He is also considering applying to be a director on the New Zealand Cricket board which will be voted in next month.

"I've seen the sport from a different perspective to most. I feel I have a good understanding of what today's cricketers require from a facilities point of view which might be a point of difference."

What about favourite memories?

"I enjoyed preparing for the Rugby World Cup but, as a purist groundsman, I'd say getting rid of Eden Park's tag as a low, slow wicket was a highlight. Developing the portable pitch technology was another. Our quickest turnaround time was 18 hours. Changing from rugby to cricket used to be the trickiest transition because expectations for a cricket ground are that much higher.

"In terms of rugby matches, it'd be easy to say the World Cup final but I thought the Australia-Ireland game was one of the best. Even an hour before kick-off the atmosphere was electric. For cricket, probably that Chappell-Hadlee match where New Zealand chased down Australia's 336 [in 2007]."

The park has provided a wealth of good work stories: "We've had some laughs. I remember taking the odd guided tour. There used to be a team spa pool in the changing rooms under the south stand. It was half full of water and this female tourist asked whether the All Blacks had ever been in there. I replied 'yes' and before you knew it she'd stripped to her underwear, jumped in and started splashing water on herself. Talk about bizarre.

"We also tended to get quite a few streakers on non-match days. You'd be out mowing or rolling and people often seemed to be randomly running around in the nude, especially after corporate functions. One day some guys jumped off a balcony into some rotten grass clippings and chucked their clothes back on afterwards to return to the function. Boy, they must've been ripe."

Perham, who sports a permi-tan from countless hours in the sun, was once asked to appear in a Maori Television documentary on career paths.

"This guy rang up and was really enthusiastic talking about how much they wanted to film me and what I did. It took me ages to get a word in edgeways to say there might be a slight problem in that I'm not Maori.

"There was this brief silence and then he just hung up without saying another thing. I earned the nickname Ngati Perham after that."