"Doll's house" is out for Eden as Auckland ponders move

Auckland’s Domain 'perfect venue for Tests’.

Michael Burgess.

New Zealand Herald.

Sunday, 24 September 2017.

PTG 2257-11431.

The Auckland Domain, that city’s oldest park and at 75 hectares one of the largest in the region while lies a few kilometres from the central business area, should become the future home of Test cricket in the city, according to some prominent cricketing personalities in this country, led by former New Zealand captain Mark Burgess.  Burgess, who played 50 Tests from 1968-1980 and is one of only a handful of Kiwis to score centuries in three consecutive Tests, thinks the Domain is the logical - and best - venue for the sport in the city.  He's found support from some respected names in the sport, including other former New Zealand captains and players.

Burgess said he thinks “the game would find a new heart in Auckland at the Domain.  With not much work, it could be made into something that showed off Auckland and reintroduced the game to the city. It's accessible, it has a great natural setting and ambience and the perfect atmosphere for cricket. I can't see why it is not part of the discussion”.

Eden Park has been Auckland's Test match venue since 1930, next March’s fixture against England being its 49th, but there is an increasingly held view that it won't be suitable into the future. The stadium has always had small boundaries, but the reconfiguration for the 2011 Rugby World Cup created a doll house-like effect for today's big-hitting batsmen, and the ground requires a special exemption from the International Cricket Council to play internationals there.

"Cricket deserves to have the right platform to present itself, which it just doesn't do in Auckland”, said Burgess. "Eden Park is an uninviting place in the main oval. There is a lot of concrete, it's not the kind of place you can wander around and relax. It's better out the back on the number two field but access isn't easy”.

Although only used for park cricket now, the Domain has a long history in the sport. The City and Suburban Cricket Association was formed in 1913, and club games, and occasional first-class matches - 33 in the period from 1877-1913 - were played there for most of last century, before the City and Suburban club folded in the early 1980s.  Burgess' vision takes inspiration from Christchurch's Hagley Park, which has become one of the most picturesque and popular cricket venues in the country with minimal impact on the natural surroundings.

"Whatever you did there, you wouldn't need to change it to prevent anything it is currently used for, like the evening concerts”, said Burgess. "It would actually enhance the ground and those events. It's also accessible, with motorway both ways, cars, rail, buses. And it's walking distance from the city”.