Sport
1News

Three days, three sports, one field: Eden Park embracing jam-packed weekend

November 25, 2020

Eden Park will host the Black Caps, the Mitre 10 Cup and a golf event over 72 hours but Blair Christiansen is confident they can pull it off.

Eden Park may have missed out on some sporting action earlier this year due to Covid-19 but come this Friday, it'll be a jam-packed 72 hours featuring three completely different sports - all on the same pitch.

Auckland hosts the Black Caps this Friday in their first international match since the pandemic - a T20 against the West Indies - but following that is the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership on Saturday and G9 golf event on Sunday.

Despite the chaotic weekend ahead, Eden Park turf manager Blair Christiansen is confident the field will hold up.

"Normally we're only cricket at this time of the year so it's just a bit new," Christiansen said.

"We've probably ended up with the usual amount of content over an annualised period but it's just a little bit more congested this time.

"Everyone's had their time wishing for content so now that it's here, bring it on."

Christiansen told 1 NEWS the pitch for Friday's match between the Black Caps and West Indies was initially prepared in a nursery area while Eden Park hosted Auckland's Mitre 10 Cup semi-final win over Waikato last Saturday. The same kind of methodical preparation is going into this weekend.

"The rugby field will actually only be in for six hours.

"We'll mark that on Saturday lunch time once we've done the pitch move and taken the cricket tray out before the final and then we'll wash those logos and the field off and prepare for golf on the Sunday.

"There's a bit going on."

Friday's cricket match starts at 7pm while Auckland host Tasman in this year's Premiership final the day after at 6:30. The G9 - an event which converts Eden Park to a unique nine-hole golf course - starts at 10am on Sunday.

SHARE ME

More Stories