Having petitioned for international cricket to return to the Queenstown Events Centre, Emma Chisholm can not believe the council has not bid for a game during the T20 World Cup. Photo: Supplied

A Queenstown woman is ‘‘extremely disappointed’’ a bid will not go ahead for a game during the 2028 T20 World Cup.

Tournament organisers have described the event, being staged over 10 venues across New Zealand and Australia, as ‘‘the biggest cricket event ever staged in the southern hemisphere’’.

Emma Chisholm, who organised a petition last year to bring international cricket back to the town, believed the Queenstown Lakes District Council had dropped the ball.

She now planned to lobby Destination Queenstown (DQ) and the local chamber of commerce to help reverse the decision.

A council spokesperson said they made a ‘‘pragmatic’’ decision after discussions with relevant council departments ‘‘and some of the local cricket fraternity’’.

‘‘As always, we have to balance local factors with the specific opportunity.

‘‘On this occasion, the timing presented significant challenges in terms of the likely local weather and turf conditions so early in the season.

‘‘Also, the need to begin preparing/protecting the turf during the autumn prior would displace community sport over that winter and would involve significant costs from existing budgets.’’

Queenstown’s John Cushen, a longtime former first-class cricketer who is in the New Zealand over-70s side, said he was ‘‘very surprised’’ the council had not lodged a bid.

‘‘I mean, you can play cricket here at the end of October — you only need one ground.

‘‘Where else have you got a background like [the Remarkables mountain range] — is it not one of the best ways of advertising to the rest of the world?’’

Another local, NZ Cricket’s former longtime international liaison officer Ian Paterson, said it was ‘‘pretty much an impossible task’’ to have a cricket wicket ready before November in Queenstown.

However, he believed Queenstown should have put a bid in, even with a proviso that a November fixture would be preferable.

‘‘It’s the old saying, you won’t know unless you ask.’’

DQ chief executive Mat Woods said it would be ‘‘great’’ to host a world cup game but was not surprised the council had not bid for it.

‘‘We don’t actually have a lot of ratepayer money to throw around to bid for something like this, however, we should be welcoming if they want to come.’’