Legend coming to Northland

THE LITTLE MASTER: Northlanders will get a chance to see Sachin Tendulkar in action at Cobham Oval next year. Photo / FILE

Possibly the last chance to see him playing in NZ

Northlanders will have the opportunity to watch a legend in action in the form of Sachin Tendulkar when the Indian cricketer plays a two-day match at the Cobham Oval in February.

This week New Zealand Cricket announced Whangarei as host of a match as the Indians tour the country, much to the delight of Northland Cricket Association general manager Warren Marr.

"[Hosting the Indian side is an] opportunity to see your heroes, this will be the last time anyone sees Tendulkar bat in this country," Marr said.

"I know certainly for the local Indian community they will flock to see them, and for the whole local area it's great. Any big events that help cricket will help Whangarei itself.

"It's sort of set up for the longer form of the game and, who knows, one day we might get a test match up here."

The match continues Whangarei's tradition of hosting an international fixture after both Zimbabwe and England turned out for one-day and Twenty20 matches in the last two years.

Marr said bidding for the match happened before he took over from Gary Bell as general manager, adding that it proved Northland could host such teams at an adequate venue.

"Before I took over, Northland Cricket were asked to submit an expression of interest, with many others I guess, and then I got a phone call about 10 days ago asking if we were still interested. And, I said, 'Yes, of course'.

"Obviously with the successes we've had here in the past it was nice to be asked again. We've got some major developments with new trees and more shade over the next few months."

Also coming to Northland this summer are two first-class Plunket Shield matches, which will see the Northern Knights, Northland's affiliate team, take on Otago and Wellington.

While Marr said the matches are positives, he says Northland Cricket's focus is turning to grassroots level.

"The real focus for us is the community and grassroots cricket, as per our strategic plan. We've invested so much money in these youngsters [it's time to see some return].

"We've got some fantastic coaches who get out to a lot of schools, so hopefully over the next few years you'll see some youngsters winning some trophies."

International and first-class matches at Cobham Oval this summer:

December 4-7, Northern Knights v Otago Volts; February 2-3, New Zealand v India; February 16-19, Northern Knights v Wellington Firebirds.