By RICHARD BOOCK
Eden Park directors will consider investing in a partly portable or synthetic-based field as a solution for the arena's much-maligned playing surface.
A trouble-shooting delegation, which has just returned from a tour of some of the world's most famous sports stadiums, is expected to recommend a multi-million dollar overhaul of the field at a board meeting in the New Year.
Eden Park chief executive John Alexander joined forces with Auckland cricket chief Lindsay Crocker and turf expert Warwick Sissons in a 23-day research expedition designed to find solutions for the ground's overworked and exhausted playing surface.
The trio studied turf systems at stadiums on four continents, a list which included glamour arenas such as Ellis Park, Newlands (South Africa), Old Trafford, Millenium Stadium, National Stadium (Britain), Colonial Stadium (Australia) and Ajax's ArenA in Amsterdam, as well as stopovers at Cincinnati's $US287m Paul Brown Stadium, and the Giants' headquarters in New York.
They even visited a couple of racetracks in New Orleans and California to monitor the racing industry's advances in the field of turf culture.
Alexander said the fact-finding mission was an important component in the overall campaign to find a long-term solution to the packed, dual-use programme facing Eden Park.
"We're addressing the short-term problems as best we can but we need to be working on a long-term solution," said Alexander. "With that in mind it made sense to study what other stadiums had done to cope, and to assess their degree of success.
"If we decide to go down this road, we're talking about a multi-million dollar investment, and we get just one shot at doing it right, so we have to do our homework and make sure we pick the best option."
In broad terms, the two most popular options are apparently a turf replacement system such as those used at Cardiff, New York and Melbourne's Colonial Stadium, or a total sports surface comprising a mixture of synthetic and natural grass.
Alexander said the total sports surface, used at Old Trafford, Newlands and Huddersfield among others, employed concepts such as synthetic root and turf stabilisers, with the natural grass sewn into an artificial base.
However, if there was a need to re-sow the turf, the entire surface would need to be ripped up. The turf replacement system allowed for partial, total or no replacement of the surface, but required a vast outdoor area to store the awaiting and recovering sections.
"There's more research to be done before we can be sure of the direction in which we're heading," said Alexander. "But it's important that people know we're serious about quality of the playing surface, and that we're determined to give it top priority.
"In the meantime, we're preparing to re-lay the cricket block as soon as the NPC rugby season is finished, and we're constructing it a bit differently this time, with a view to providing more pace."
Eden Park has attracted criticism over the past two summers after experiencing difficulties with the cricket pitch's couch grass, the surface being glued for the 1999 test against South Africa, before a spinners' paradise was produced for last summer's showdown against Australia.
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