Cricket: Big season ahead for Napier’s McLean Park

The Central Districts Stags will return to Napier's McLean Park at least four times during the summer, reliving the Ford Trophy national one-day final win they had on the ground in March. Photo / Photosport

National first-class cricket champions Central Districts Stags will play three four-day matches at McLean Park in the 2023-24 season in what promises to be cricket’s biggest use of Hawke’s Bay’s premier sports stadium in many years.

Following the Central Districts Cricket Association’s Tuesday release of most of its schedule for the season, at least 15 days of men’s cricket are now booked for the park, including three in defence of historic championship trophy the Plunket Shield and one defending 50-overs-a-side prize the Ford Trophy.

Shield matches are scheduled for November 15-18 against Canterbury, March 16-19 against Auckland and March 24-27 against Otago, and a Ford Trophy match against Auckland is diaried for February 10.

It was at McLean Park that the Stags claimed the Ford Trophy on March 28, by crushing Canterbury in a final initially postponed because of Cyclone Gabrielle and then transferred to Napier as a bolster for the community after the disaster.

The 13 days of cricket could be extended with potentially more in the late February 2024 trophy playoffs, while the season also includes two internationals between the New Zealand Black Caps and Bangladesh, a 50-over-a-side match on December 23 and a Twenty20 match four days later.

The Plunket Shield comprises eight rounds, including home-and-away matches against three of the other five teams, and a full home-and-away draw for the one-day matches. Dates and venues for the holiday-season Dream 11 Super Smash joint men and women’s series of Twenty20 matches are yet to be announced.

Doug Laing recently achieved the milestone of 50 years in journalism, covering sports and most aspects of news gathering in regional communities but also as far afield as the UK, France, Norway, and South Africa.