McLean Park
Napier
FACTS
| Opened | 1911 |
| Capacity | 22,500 |
| Known as | McLean Park |
| Ends | Centennial Stand End, Embankment End |
| Location | Napier, New Zealand |
| Time Zone | UTC +13:00 |
| Home to | Central Districts |
| Other Sports it is home to | Rugby |
| Floodlights | Yes |
| Curator | Phil Stoyanoff |
Venue description:
Rugby and Cricket are the two major sports events held at Napier's McLean Park. Established in 1911, the stadium was built on the 10 acres of land donated by Sir Douglas in memory of his father, Sir Donald McLean, who was a local politician and a government official. 'Sir Donald McLean Park' was the official name of the ground, before it took its current name, 'McLean Park.' It is a square dimensional ground, covered by four stands and a huge grass bank behind the sightscreen at one end.
Located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island, Napier is one of New Zealand's driest cities, because of which the square at McLean Park doesn't have the spice that other grounds in the country have. The pitch here is regarded as batting-friendly and it is generally considered to be a very good wicket for limited-overs cricket. In fact, it is one of the world's highest scoring grounds at present.
A Test match between hosts New Zealand and Pakistan in 1979 was the first international cricket match to be played at this venue. Since then, the BlackCaps have featured in 9 Test matches, winning one, drawing six and losing two. Quite clearly, not a happy hunting ground for the hosts in the longest format of the game.
Four years later, New Zealand and Sri Lanka locked horns with each other to open McLean Park's ODI account on March 19, 1983. Although enjoying a good run at the start, as years went by, oppositions found ways to tackle New Zealand's strategies at this ground and the BlackCaps have suffered quite a few setbacks in the last 10 years.
How does the pitch play?
McLean Park is regarded as one of the most batting friendly wickets in the world. The wicket tends to slow up as the game progresses.
Interesting facts about McLean Park:
Brett Lee clocked 160.8kph on March 5, 2005, to record the fastest ball ever bowled by him.
New Zealand's first floodlit home fixture was played here in 1996. Ten years later, in 2006, the artificial lights were upgraded to meet the latest requirements.
In March 2009, a fungus, which prevented the growth of grass, forced the groundsmen to shift the 22 yards, ahead of India's 2nd Test match against New Zealand.
By MS Ramakrishnan
STATS - TEST
STATS - ODI
STATS - T20
