The return of top-level men’s cricket at the Queens Park ground has been described as a great day and there is plenty more to come.
Otago took on Auckland in the first round of the Ford Trophy on Saturday in Invercargill and came away with a 42-run win over the men from the city of sails.
It was the first time a top-level men’s game had been played on the main ground at Queens Park for five years.
The Otago Sparks women’s team played at the venue last year and were happy with the venue.
The Volts then came along on Saturday and made the most of the conditions to win the match in a reasonably comfortable manner.
The home team scored just over 300 and Auckland was undone by a fine display of the bowling by Volts seamer Matt Bacon to come up short.
Southland Cricket general manager Lauren Roney said it was a successful day.
"Having a beautiful day really helped, especially for the first game back here. But the pitch played really well, the outfield was fine and everyone was happy at the end of the day," she said.
"The feedback we got was great and everyone praised the pitch. To get nearly 600 runs scored in a day shows the pitch must have been a good one. We didn’t hear any complaints."
There were a few hundred people there throughout the day. She said there was a lot on in Invercargill, including the Santa Parade, on Saturday, which may have impacted the crowd.
The ground had issues with drainage at one end and worries over the pitch which had led to the ground losing its warrant of fitness.
But some hard work had managed to get the ground back in top shape.
Otago Volts coach Dion Ebrahim said the facilities were "outstanding" and the pitch "provided good levels of competition with both bat and ball."
Next month is shaping up as a busy period for the cricket ground.
The Sparks are playing two games at the ground on December 9-10 and then two days later the Volts will be back in Invercargill for a match against Canterbury.
The ground will also host Hawke Cup games and there will be games played for a year 11-12 secondary schoolboys tournament for representative teams around the wider Otago region next month.
