Taranaki's top cricket official "has warned New Plymouth District Council off spending more of its money upgrading facilities to attract Twenty20 cricket games," according to Matt Rilkoff of the TARANAKI DAILY NEWS.
The caution from Taranaki Cricket Chair Neil Sulzberger "comes a day after it was revealed New Plymouth had missed out on domestic T20 games this summer," despite council spending NZ$400,000 on practice nets in '12 to accommodate first class matches. Sky TV and NZ Cricket "have a new deal on 'festival weekends' of cricket where multiple matches will be held at one venue over two or three days."
To be eligible "grounds require lighting facilities, which Pukekura Park does not have and are not budgeted for in the future."
Sulzberger "counselled against more spending on the ground." He said, "We should stick with the facilities we have. The council should not be putting money into this." However, Sulzberger said that "if council were able to find money from other sources, one way to get T20 matches would be to install a drop-in pitch at Yarrow Stadium."
But without a contract to hold matches at the stadium, New Plymouth Mayor Andrew Judd on Wednesday said that "such a pitch would not be installed" (TARANAKI DAILY NEWS, 10/2).
