Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Sport

Tauranga eyes Cricket World Cup qualifiers

By John Cousins
Bay of Plenty Times·
30 Apr, 2013 05:37 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tauranga is poised to step on to the world cricketing stage if it wins selection as a venue for a Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament.

The month-long tournament in January will feature 10 non-test playing nations vying for the last two places in the 2015 World Cup to be played in Australia and New Zealand.

Bay of Plenty Cricket Trust general manager Kelvin Jones said he was confident Tauranga would win selection as the North Island hub for the tournament.

"We are in a very strong position to win the bid. There have been really good noises."

If Tauranga's bid was successful, it would host five of the 10 teams for warm-up games followed by the round-robin competition.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He suspected the finals would be played in the South Island hub of the tournament.

The non-test playing nations vying for the 14 World Cup places include Kenya, Canada, Afghanistan, Ireland, Holland and the United States.

Nine officials from the International Cricket Council (ICC) visited Tauranga in January to look at the facilities at Blake Park's Bay Oval.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Winning selection would help celebrate the completion of the Trust's new $2.65 million pavilion at the oval. Construction starts soon on the changing rooms, player viewing area, lounge and offices.

Mr Jones said the officials were also interested in the progress to build a first class cricket block on Blake Park's top field on the other side of the pavilion. The trust has put in a submission to the council's 2013-14 Annual Plan to bring forward its plans for a cricket block.

Winning selection meant five teams, each comprising 25 players and officials, along with ICC umpires and scorers, would be staying in Tauranga.

"It would have quite an impact," he said.

Unlike test nations, he did not expect to see many supporters following their teams out to New Zealand for the tournament. However, he expected team nationals living in New Zealand would gravitate to the tournament, adding to the numbers that he estimated would inject more than $1 million directly into Tauranga's economy.

Mr Jones was hoping cricket fans would get to see up to 12 50-over matches at Blake Park which had an international standard wicket and outfield.

What stopped Tauranga from bidding for World Cup matches was the $2.6 million needed to build international standard lights, scoreboard and media centre. But the trust hoped Blake Park would be selected as a World Cup training venue and possibly even for warm-up games.

A bonus for tournament organisers was Blake Park's 18 grass practice wickets - the biggest in New Zealand.

"It is really exciting for us. We are pretty confident it is going to happen."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Bay of Plenty Times

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses

Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses
Bay of Plenty Times

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses

The new facility will include a new building plus 14 asphalt and nine cushioned courts.

14 Jul 07:00 PM
Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought
Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

14 Jul 05:17 AM
Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes
Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes

14 Jul 04:28 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP