Bay Oval Takes out Award for NZC International Short-Term Pitches

Posted: Monday, 11 June 2018

A marathon season of international cricket at the Bay Oval at Blake Park in Mount Maunganui, has been recognised with a NZ Cricket Turf Management award, for the best International Short-Term Pitches in the country.

In thirteen short years, since the first sod was turned on the first day of March 2005, on former wasteland at Blake Park – the Bay Oval has been transformed into an international cricket venue, which has earned the praises of players, coaches, officials and cricket fans alike.

Last season Bay Oval Turf Manager Jared Carter and his team, were in match-day mode on numerous occasions, as the Western Bay of Plenty cricket ground hosted 15 international short-form matches. Two Under 19 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches, preceded the Black Caps verses West Indies in early January. Six round-robin Under 19 CWC games and the U19 CWC Final attracted worldwide attention, before the Black Caps squared off with Pakistan and England. The international encounters were rounded out by two White Ferns matches with their West Indies counterparts.

The pitch of the year awards, is based on the information and data, collated from the feedback received from player surveys, match reports and ICC reports over the 2017-18 cricket season.

Jared Carter Turf Manager “It’s a great honour to receive this award, especially as there are so many venues producing top quality pitches around the country. I am lucky to be part of a great team of staff and volunteers, looking after the ground, who all share the vision to make the Bay Oval the best venue in the country. Special thanks to David Johnston and Kyle Dovey.”

“It's been a massive team effort, not only on the ground, but from Kelvin and his team to get the lights and other venue up-grades completed, which has allowed us to have all of these high level matches allocated to the region”.

Ian McKendry NZ Cricket GM Grounds and Facilities said “The awards recognized the outstanding contributions that turf management teams responsible for the preparation of cricket surfaces across all New Zealand venues. The quality of cricket surfaces is an important part of the development and enjoyment of our players at all levels – from the community game to the high performance pathways of domestic and international cricket women’s and men’s competitions

NZ Cricket 2017-18 Turf Management Awards
International Short-Form Cricket Pitch – Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
International Long-Form Cricket Pitch – Hagley Park, Christchurch
Domestic Long-Form Cricket Pitch – Eden Park No2, Auckland
Domestic Short-Form Cricket Pitch – Basin Reserve, Wellington
Club/School Cricket Pitch – St Pauls Collegiate, Hamilton

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