Talk of new boundaries 'premature'

FIRST CLASS VENUE: Action at the Queen Elizabeth Park oval which could host "home" games for Wellington

The greater Wellington super-city debate has entered the sporting arena.

Cricket Wellington is looking to have the country's cricketing landscape reshaped with the idea of having Wairarapa and Kapiti within its boundaries.

They say several factors motivated their thinking with Wellington's potential move to a super-city among them. The provincial cricket boundaries had not been looked at for more than 50 years and, in line with New Zealand's evolution over that time Wellington's boundaries have spread.

Cricket Wellington chief executive Peter Clinton said it was not simply a case of wanting change for Wellington's sake but more about encouraging the other major associations - Northern Districts, Auckland, Central Districts, Canterbury and Otago - to examine whether their borders were still relevant or would be 50 years from now.

Under the Cricket Wellington proposal, there was the possibility of Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton hosting home national competition matches games for the Wellington Firebirds.

Wairarapa - and Kapiti for that matter - are part of Central Districts and Wairarapa Cricket Association chairman Sam Rossiter-Stead said it was "very premature" to talk about that changing.

However, Rossiter-Stead also said his body had been involved in preliminary discussions with Cricket Wellington about the possibility of them playing some fixtures at Queen Elizabeth Park and there was a "strong willingness" on both sides to explore this further.

"Certainly there will be some real economic benefits to the region if this plan comes to fruition, and we're confident that matches would be very well supported," Rossiter-Stead said. "You only have to look at the success of the Super Rugby games in the area to see the appetite there is in the region for top level sport."

Rossiter-Stead said the planned renovations to the Queen Elizabeth Park grandstand and wicket block would cost in the vicinity of $560,000, $425,000 of which had been raised.

The prospect of hosting Wellington matches would undoubtedly help with getting the work under way as quickly as possible.

"Although we are keen to host first class and other Wellington representative games here in Masterton, any suggestion of changing the major association boundaries is very premature," Rossiter-Stead said. Meanwhile, Wairarapa College have qualified for the final of the The Rock Twenty20 senior men's competition where they will meet either Lansdowne or Greytown " who play their semifinal tonight at Queen Elizabeth Park at 5pm.

The Bidwell Cup two-day competition, which has drawn an entry of just three teams, starts on Saturday.

Red Star meet Lansdowne at Queen Elizabeth Park at noon, and Greytown have the bye.