Cricket fans in Alexandra will be deprived of their two biggest days.
While the domestic cricket schedule is a work in progress until there is some certainty around Covid-19 alert levels, chief executive Mike Coggan confirmed the Otago Cricket Association had lost the battle to stage its twenty20 games at Molyneux Park during the period between Christmas and New Year.
Those games now look set to be played in Queenstown, which is better placed to met the requirements of broadcaster Spark Sport.
‘‘Spark Sport have made a commitment that it would broadcast every game live during [this] Super Smash season, so we always knew what that meant for us,’’ Coggan said.
‘‘There is an expectation that the venues will be set up for broadcasting, which does not come at an additional cost to the broadcaster.’’
Sky, the previous broadcaster, had contributed to the cost in the past but Coggan said that would not be the case this time. Otago considered erecting some temporary broadcast towers but the cost proved prohibitive.
‘‘The only reason it is going to be in Queenstown, if it is, is because there will be broadcast towers already erected for possibly international cricket.’’
It is a big blow for Otago cricket. The games at Molyneux Park typically attract crowds of about 1500.
Spectator numbers in Dunedin can be half that or even smaller.
There is also a long-standing tradition of playing cricket in Alexandra during the holiday period.
‘‘We really pushed the case for the last eight or nine months since we’ve known it was potentially a problem.
‘‘But for us to put in a solution at Molyneux Park, you are talking $50,000. Our gates and our hospitality would be half that, so it wasn’t really an option.
‘‘We’ll try, but I don’t think we’ll get the same sort of crowds at any other ground in our region.’’
Spark’s deal with New Zealand Cricket stretches to 2026, so it could be a long wait for cricket fans in the area.
The venue is likely to stage Plunket Shield games. However, first-class cricket is typically played in front of crowds you can count on your fingers, so that will not prove much of a consolation in terms of visibility.
‘‘We will continued to play Plunket Shield cricket there, and ideally in the future we’ll play Super Smash games there, but we’ve got to find a solution to the broadcast challenge.’’
Otago Country Cricket chairman Malcolm Jones said it was incredibly disappointing for the community.
Molyneux Park has had a chequered past. It lost its New Zealand Cricket warrant of fitness following the 2008-09 season and it was withdrawn again in 2011.
Jones estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent lifting the facilities up to standard and renovating the pitch block, which played superbly last season.
‘‘It is a pity the work the council has done in upgrading facilities isn’t going to be seen on television,’’ Jones said.
‘‘It looks like we won’t lose too many days of cricket. There is a possibility of two Plunket Shield games this season, but we are not going to be on TV ... and it is a blow for the cricket-watching public in Otago.
‘‘Otago is keen to get up here as often as they can to train and play but this decision has been taken out of their hands and made by a TV company.
‘‘Decisions are being made that are not in the best interests of cricket,which is a real shame.’’
