Fitzherbert Park is a

cricket ground Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by strikin ...

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, a home ground of the

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

. In February 2000, New Zealand Women defeated

England Women The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...

at the ground. The ground is situated on Fitzherbert Avenue in the parklands beside the

Manawatū River The Manawatū River is a major river of the lower North Island of New Zealand. The river flows from the Ruahine Ranges, through both the Manawatū Gorge and the city of Palmerston North, and across the Manawatū Plains to the Tasman Sea at Foxton, ...

. Known originally just as the Sportsground, it was renamed Fitzherbert Park in 1973.

Re-development

With the development of

NZC New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...

Warrant of Fitness (WOF) and increasing expectations of the modern game Fitzherbert Park lost their NZC WOF due to the lack of effective irrigation to the outfield in droughty summers causing a brown bumpy outfield that first class players did not like. Fitzherbert Park is unusual as it has three cricket blocks (two club and one representative) and a practice block within the one facility. During winter rugby league is played over the outfield and blocks making for more difficult management of the ground for the groundstaff. Since losing the NZC WOF

Palmerston North City Council Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

in consultation with

Manawatu Cricket Association The Manawatu cricket team represents the Manawatū district of New Zealand. It competes in the Hawke Cup. History Cricket was played in the region in the 1870s. The Palmerston Cricket Club was formed in October 1878. The Manawatu Cricket Associa ...

had * Extended the drainage across the whole ground * Installed a full outfield pop up irrigation system * Resurfaced the two Patumahoe blocks * Replaced the Marton soil with Patumahoe on the town end block.

References

External links

Cricinfo

Cricket grounds in New Zealand Sports venues in Palmerston North {{NewZealand-sports-venue-stub