Cricket: Access all areas at Eden Park

The coup in securing the Rugby World Cup will mean Eden Park will be a 'legal' cricket ground for the first time since the International Cricket Council's 'Standard Playing Conditions for Test Matches' was released.

Eden Park's quirky angles and out-of-kilter boundary sizes have long been a bugbear for cricket lovers who have found it impossible to find a seat at the ground that provides a decent perspective.

With the park set for a radical facelift before the 2011 World Cup, that is about to change, with architects under instruction from the Eden Park Trust Board to make the 'oval' ICC-compliant.

It could even be a centrepiece venue for any future cricket World Cup bid, as it was when it hosted a semifinal in 1991.

Up until now, Eden Park has survived as a cricket venue under an exemption as an 'existing ground'.

"We'll probably end up moving the wicket," Eden Park Trust Board chief executive John Alexander said. "We're not sure of the mechanics but that's an option available to us. The wicket will probably go end-on-end and we're definitely increasing the size of the field anyway."

The park uses drop-in pitch technology for cricket to counter the ever-increasing length of the rugby season (the Super 14 and international home season overlap).

The pitch is still dropped in on the angle the old wicket block used to run, which is approximately from where the terraces and the South Stand meet to the gap between the West and ASB Stands.

It meant there were some long boundaries, particularly out to the Panasonic Stand, but some ridiculously short ones too. For a right-handed batsman taking strike at the terraces end of the ground, a mere flick off the hip was often rewarded with a six into the South Stand.

The minimum requirement for a boundary under ICC regulations is 55m but that boundary fell well short of that.

Another criticism of New Zealand's dual-purpose grounds, including the Cake Tin, Jade Stadium and, in times past, Carisbrook, was that they were the worst of both worlds. Too small and ugly for cricket, with the crowd too far away to generate atmosphere for rugby.

Alexander said "relocatable seat technology" means the crowd will be much closer to the rugby when the upgrade is complete.

The seats will be retracted under either the new stand or a refitted South Stand for the cricket.

"That's the modern design you will see around the world today," Alexander said.

International cricket and rugby programmes wouldn't be affected in the run-up to 2011 but capacity will be reduced at various times.

"We'll move heaven and earth to make sure we cater for our international rugby and cricket," he said.

In further good news for cricket, options will be explored to revamp the outer oval at Eden Park, which hosts nearly all of Auckland's home domestic fixtures.

"That is an available option but it's yet to be discussed with the New Zealand Rugby Union and the bid office, and with Auckland Cricket," Alexander said.

Cricket, though, will not be permanently consigned to the outer oval, despite the ground being a more aesthetically pleasing venue to watch the game from.

"I don't see the sense in that. One-day cricket brings a pretty full stadium so it wouldn't be worthwhile from a New Zealand Cricket perspective."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY