McLean Park

McLean Park

Ground information
Location	Napier, New Zealand
Coordinates	39°30′7″S 176°54′46″E / 39.50194°S 176.91278°E / -39.50194; 176.91278Coordinates: 39°30′7″S 176°54′46″E / 39.50194°S 176.91278°E / -39.50194; 176.91278
Establishment	1911[1]
Capacity	22,000
Owner	Napier City Council
Operator	Napier City Council
Tenants	Hurricanes (Super 14) Hawke's Bay Rugby Union (Air New Zealand Cup) Central Stags (State Championship/State Shield/State Twenty20)
End names
Centennial stand end Embankment end
International information
First Test	16 February 1979: New Zealand v Pakistan
Last Test	11 December 2009: New Zealand v Pakistan
First ODI	19 March 1982: New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	3 March 2010: New Zealand v Australia
Domestic team information
Central Districts (1952)
As of 6 March 2010 Source: [Cricinfo]

McLean Park is a sports ground in Napier, New Zealand. The two main sports played at the ground are cricket and rugby. It is one of the 10 proper cricket grounds of New Zealand.

McLean Park is a sportsground of international standards which includes an indoor stadium and Centennial Hall. The home team for this ground is Central Districts Cricket Association. The two ends of the stadium are named the Centennial Stand End and Embankment End. Its close proximity to the International Date Line makes it the world's most easterly Test match ground.

Ground

It is primarily a one-day venue with square dimensions that allow attacking batsman to score freely especially in the opening overs. There are four covered stands and a large grass bank opposite the Centennial Stand. The wicket tends to slow up throughout the day therefore captains prefer to set targets on this pitch. It has held first class matches since 1952 and six tests since 1979. New Zealand's Test record at the ground is four draws and two losses. It has held at least a single one-day international every season since 1990. The ground has a capacity of 21,000 and the pitch is turf.

Usage

The ground is used for hosting both ODIs and Test Matches. It has hosted a total of 5 Tests and 26 ODIs. The first ODI played here was between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Rothman's Cup of 1982/83. In this match New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets. Apart from this, the McLean Park Complex also hosts rugby matches, including one match at the 1987 Rugby World Cup and another at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. It is the home of the Hawkes Bay rugby team in the Air New Zealand Cup. It has also hosted several New Zealand Maori games in the past.

Redevelopments

Redevelopment of the park has recently finished and the new Graham Lowe Stand opened on Saturday 1 August 2009 when the Hawke's Bay Magpies opened their Air New Zealand Cup campaign with a win against Auckland. Redevelopments took just one year to complete. The stand was built for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and to a lesser extent the 2015 Cricket World Cup of which both events will have games at the venue.

Statistics

Test matches

McLean Park is regarded as one of the most batting friendly wickets in the world. The average runs per wickets is 39.45 which is almost eight runs higher than Eden Park which, at 31.46 is the second most batting friendly wicket in New Zealand. No pitch throughout the world which has had more than five test matches has a higher runs per wicket ^[2] The batting friendly conditions means that it is hard to produce results here and seven on the nine tests played here have been draws with the other two losses to New Zealand which featured characteristic batting collapses.^[3] Brendan McCullum is the top run scorer on the ground with 411 ^[4] while Iain O'Brien has the most wickets with 15 ^[5]

One Day Internationals

McLean Park also has been known as a good batting strip for one day cricket. The average runs per wicket is 30.66 while the average runs per over is 4.90. It has been known as a good ground for New Zealand with 20 of the 33 matches played having been won by the home side while two matches, both against England, were tied.^[6] Ricky Ponting has the highest individual score on the ground of 141 not out which came in the highest team score on the ground of 347/5. Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle^[7] share the record for most runs on the ground with 743 while Daniel Vettori with 23 easily has the most wickets.^[8]

See also

• List of Test cricket grounds

References

1. ^ http://www.espnscrum.com/newzealand/rugby/ground/16552.html
2. ^ http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Grounds/GroundRunsPerWicket.asp?Order=2&CountryCode=XXX
3. ^ http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Grounds/GroundStats.asp?GroundCode=041
4. ^ http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Grounds/GroundTopPlayers.asp?GroundCode=041&Stat=2
5. ^ http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Grounds/GroundTopPlayers.asp?GroundCode=041&Stat=6
6. ^ http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Grounds/GroundStats_ODI.asp?GroundCode=041
7. ^ http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Grounds/GroundTopPlayers_ODI.asp?GroundCode=041&Stat=2
8. ^ http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Grounds/GroundTopPlayers_ODI.asp?GroundCode=041&Stat=6

External links

• Cricinfo Link
• Ground Statistics