Match: Auckland v Central Districts

Date: 20^th November 2007 (day 2 of 4)

Venue: Eden Park Outer Oval

Nearest Town: Mount Eden district of Auckland

1) An obscure fact about the venue or town:

The Eden Park complex is facing an uncertain future at the moment. The ground has been nominated as the host Stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but is currently short of the 60,000 capacity needed. There are several plans to redevelop the ground in place, all of which will mean the State Cricket team will have to move out of the ground, but a shortfall in funding and arguments over what plans are used is making the stadium appear to be the Kiwi’s Wembley. This is turn has lead to fears that the International Rugby Board will follow athletics’ example (the 2003 world championships were switched from London to Paris), and either switch the major matches to the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, or switch the whole tournament to London.

2) Getting there:

Very easy to get to, just a 10 minute drive from hotel. Parking was on site, free and readily available (I’m sure they were so pleased do see us we could have got them to clean the car for us too).

Admission was also free.

3) Food and drink:

Those wanting to eat during the lunch break were well catered for with an excellent burger bar opened for the lunch break only. (Fish, Chips and a drink were $12 (about £4.50)

For the rest of the day there was a crap corner shop that looked like it would fall down if a ball hit for 6 hit it, or a petrol station shop across the main road. There was no alcohol on sale at all.

4) Locals:

The elderly locals were very friendly, and happy to show us where the best places to sit were. After 12 there was a mini invasion of Uni students wanting to recover from hangovers outdoors.

5) Breaks:

The Eden Park Hall of Fame at the main stadium features a few references to Cricket, along with the 1950 Empire Games and some Olympic football qualifiers for the 1984 Games, but mostly featured Rugby. Admission was $10 for adults and $5 for concessions.

Other then that, there was a train line to watch…

6) Nutters:

Apart from the odd stoned uni students, the general crowd were remarkable sane… for New Zealanders who though that this match was entertaining anyway….

7) The Cricket:

I’ve spent two weeks trying to think of words to describe this match that aren’t “dreadful”, “Mind numbingly dull” or “a waste of a day”, but I’ve failed miserably. The first hour saw 27 runs scored in 17 overs. The second hour improved slightly, 34 runs were scored. Things improved slightly after lunch with Andre Adams at the crease, but by tea, my Dad and I were so bored we decided to go.

However it seemed we picked the wrong day. The first day saw Central bowled out easily, and Auckland take a 60 run lead with the loss of a couple of wickets. The third day saw Auckland declare on 403, and Central reply well at first, but then losing their final 7 wickets for just 14 runs, to fall to an innings at 191 run defeat.

Auckland v Central Districts