Garth George: Test match at Bay Oval would cap it off

Tauranga's cricket administrators and city councillors have made it possible for the city to stage the first international match in 20 years played on Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval.

It is surely a sign of metropolitan maturity when a city provides its people with facilities to stage international cricket.

So my hat is off to Tauranga's cricket administrators and city councillors who have made it possible for Tauranga to stage the first international match in 20 years played on Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval on Tuesday and Friday last week.

I reckon it's a bit unfair that an event I have looked forward to for some years has finally arrived at a time when I am, for health reasons, unable to attend.

But I watched both games from start to finish on TV and the great aerial scenic shots of the ground, nestled between ocean and harbour, confirmed that Bay Oval will be a unique venue in this country. Sun, sand, surf and cricket - oh joy!

And from my point of view one of its greatest attractions is that it is but an hour's drive from my home in Rotorua.

But it will come into its own only when it is fully prepared for five-day test cricket, for there are few things more enjoyable and relaxing than watching test matches - ball by ball, at the ground.

Until now, Seddon Park in Hamilton, with its lovely cricket-on-the-village-green ambience, has been the closest venue to watch tests. But that means you have to spend days in Hamilton - a place you bypass if you can, drive through if you have to, and stay in if you must.

Seaside Napier's McLean Park also provides an excellent venue for tests. It lacks the intimacy of Seddon Park, but Napier is one of New Zealand's more pleasant places to spend a few days.

Incidentally, it was at Napier back in 09 that I was privileged to see what few New Zealand cricket fans have ever seen at first hand - our team bat (against India) for nearly two days, rack up a score of more than 600 runs and, as a bonus, to watch three batsmen score more than 100 in an innings, one of them more than 200.

The performances of the incomparable youngster, Jesse Ryder (201), Ross Taylor (115) and Brendon McCullum (163), all in less than two days' play, made for mesmerising cricket-watching. The week in Napier was worth every cent for that period of play alone.

It is an old man's privilege to reminisce, but to come back to the present, I consider that the Bay Oval, when its development is complete, will be the finest venue of them all; a gem of a ground which will give cricket lovers throughout the Bay of Plenty hours and days of enjoyment. I just hope I live long enough to spread myself out on the grass and watch a test match played there.

The crowd at the first game on Tuesday numbered a mere 2500 but doubled that on Friday - reasonable enough numbers considering both were working days.

The numbers will grow, but only, I fear, if the Black Caps vastly improve on their abysmal form of last week.

The installation of lights will make it possible to stage day-night one-dayers and wham-bam-thank-you-fans T20 games, both of which attract big crowds. That's where the money is.

It's a great shame that so few people bother to attend cricket tests nowadays. I suppose it is just another example of the decreasing attention span of the populace in general in these days of instant this and instant that, which explains why T/20 cricket, which takes but three hours, has been such a big success, surpassing the 50-over, one-day game in popularity.

However, that is no reason for Tauranga to stint on providing what is needed to stage international test matches, which are the very epitome of cricket, the ultimate test of a player's proficiency at this remarkable game.

• garth.george@hotmail.com