"Nobody can think of one that's better", Mr Payne said, as he admired the ground which overlooks both the town and Oamaru harbour.
Both the park and the club's clubrooms are in pristine condition for this weekend as the club celebrates its centenary. About 130 people, including several from Australia, will be attending.
It will begin with a get-together tomorrow night, with photographs on Saturday and a "past versus present" match.
New Zealand Cricket president Don Neely is guest speaker at a dinner that night at The Homestead. A match against an old rival, Naseby, will conclude the celebrations on Sunday.
The club was based at Takaro Park before it moved to King George Park in 1915. It has won the North Otago Cricket Association's senior premier competition, the Borton Cup, 28 times since 1920.
Mr Tempero and Mr Payne, who are in their 60s, have been involved with the club since the mid-1950s.
They both played for many years and have also been very involved with the club's administration. Both were made life members in 1988 and Mr Tempero is chairman of the centenary organising committee.
The pair recalled how the banks used to be overgrown and it was the 1970s before senior cricket was played on the park.
The clubrooms was a "pretty ordinary sort of building" when they first joined the club but had been progressively upgraded over the years. Facilities were now "magnificent", Mr Payne said.
They agreed it was the people and the fellowship that was the major factor in their long involvement.
Highlights for Mr Payne were winning the Borton Cup, and also the annual Easter trip to Central Otago - a tradition which dated back to 1928.
Standout players for the club were Graham Cowles, a fine all-rounder in the 1950s and the 1960s, and Duncan Drew and Neil Rushton, who were both selected for Otago in the early 2000s. Rushton was also selected for the New Zealand districts team in 2001.
