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This will be the first ODI at Basin since we last toured wont it?
I'm almost certain. There won't be any day-nighters there anytime soon though. The light towers are pretty dodgy at the best of times, and one is totally lacking any lights, or any sign of anything up there. Quite an issue with only two towers, as well.
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Westpac Trust does not look as imposing a stadium from the outside...not as high as I was thinking it would have been.
I took that photo from the entry concourse, it is about 15+ metres above the railway tracks and the road. The height of the entrances in betweem the bays, about halfway up is about the height of the concourse.
They could have easily built another level on the stadium - the residents who complained must really like their view...of the CONITAINER TERMINAL. Whoop de.
The World XI match got a crowd of about 21,200. Not much higher, i might add, than the crowd at Eden Park for the NZ/SL game on Boxing Day.
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I always had the impression the Basin Reserve was a toy ground in terms of playing field size but the outfield looks quite big in the images. WTS on the other hand does look very compact. Is it the elevation of the shots that make it look deceptively small or is it really a midget ground?
I understand the Basin is one of the biggest grounds in New Zealand, in field size. As Jeffles said, the pitch was right on the side of the wicket block (and yet the ropes were really far in on the short side, and really far out on the long side - haha, genius!).
WTS is a rugby ground that just happens to be a circle.
Jeffles - Athletic Park was a sad sight, or lack thereof. I'm sure everyone knows that it's now a retirement village, and i saw it listed on a map still. When we drove past the area there was no sign of it. Such a big part of NZ history, totally goneburgers.