Nelson Park is a

cricket 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 str ...

ground in Napier,

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

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 ...

. It is situated in Napier South, about 600 metres south-west of the Napier CBD, and about 200 metres north-west of Napier's main sports stadium,

McLean Park McLean Park is a sports ground in Napier, New Zealand. The two main sports played at the ground are cricket and rugby union. It is one of the largest cricket grounds in New Zealand. McLean Park is a sports ground of international standards ...

Establishment

A syndicate reclaimed the Napier South area from the Ahuriri Lagoon and swamp in 1908. In 1909, the town council purchased 20 acres for a park named in honour of a member of the reclamation syndicate, the Hawke's Bay pioneering settler William Nelson.

Playing history

The ground first held a

first-class match First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

when

played

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

in 1920, and Hawke's Bay also played a first-class match there in 1921 against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

. In the 1920s Nelson Park was regarded as one of the best cricket wickets in New Zealand. Senior cricket was next played at Nelson Park nearly 65 years later when

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 ...

played

in the 1985–86

Shell Trophy New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

. It has been a regular first-class venue since 2007. As of December 2018, Central Districts has played 20 first-class matches there, lifting the Plunket Shield at the venue in 2018–19. A 2011-12 Ford Trophy match was held between the

Central Districts Stags 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 ...

and the

Wellington Firebirds The Wellington Firebirds are one of six New Zealand men's first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. It is based in Wellington. It competes in the Plunket Shield first class (4-day) competition, The Ford Trophy domestic one ...

, which finished in a no result. Five Youth One Day Internationals have been played at Nelson Park, all in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup. The ground has also been used a home venue for

Central Districts Women The Central Hinds are the women's representative cricket team of the Central Districts Cricket Association, based in central New Zealand. They play their home games at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, McLean Park, Napier, Fitzherbert Park, Palmers ...

in the

State League The Hallyburton Johnstone Shield is the premier domestic women's one-day cricket competition in New Zealand. The tournament began in 1935–36, as a first-class competition, but is now played as a 50-over competition, with six provincial teams ...

in the 2010/11 season. Nelson Park is the home of the Hawke's Bay Cricket Association. There are five cricket pitches in the park, with some overlap among the five fields.

Other uses

After the

1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, 500 tents were erected on Nelson Park to provide emergency accommodation for displaced residents. As well as cricket grounds, the park precinct also includes a

pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

club and

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

References

Sources

External links

Nelson Park
at

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Nelson Park
at CricketArchive {{coord, -39.498391, 176.910237, region:NZ_type:landmark, display=title 1909 establishments in New Zealand Cricket grounds in New Zealand Sports venues in the Hawke's Bay Region Sport in Napier, New Zealand