Dimension of the old Eden Park, Auckland boundaries

[Jumno]

I'm very intrigued and took an interest in the old eden park Auckland ground.

I know one side of the square leg boundary was very short, maybe around 45-47 meters the boundary from the wicket.

How long was:

-straight boundary on either side? Mid off, mid on maybe a couple of meters bigger

From looking at the old videos from the 92 world cup, it seems the boundaries were 50 metres for a straight hit

-im sure one side of the cover sweeper boundary was larger than the other side, I'm sure one side was nearly 70 meters and the other 60 meters?

-how about the extra cover, mid wicket boundary size?

I can only guess from old videos and images

One side straight hit looked larger than the other from the videos

-straight hit end one: 60 meters
-mid on end one: 63 meters
-cover sweeper boundary side one: 70 meters

From this snapshot from a video, the sweeper, long mid on seems large: https://ibb.co/vjyN5PD

-square leg end one: 45 meters: https://ibb.co/xz5gvS8

 

[SteveNZ]

Great thread, particular topic of interest for me.

I'd go back to the old dimension and direction in a heartbeat. Yes, fine leg was incredibly short at the NW end but cricket - Test cricket - was played there for many, many years without anyone thinking the dimensions didn't work. I think the last time it would have played with the old direction was the Windies in 2006?

Unfortunately the soul got sucked out of the place when they replaced the Terraces (East stand) and changed the direction of the pitch. It used to be in the Terraces you could walk around as you pleased, be reasonably behind the arm, or the West stand was also a good place to watch. Now those two spots are the least favourable vantage points.

NZC now invest in the grounds with grass banks, better vantage points and more intimate atmospheres, which I completely understand. It does suck a giant one that Auckland can't host Tests and haven't since 2018. And Colin Maiden Park just is.not.it.

 

[Immenso]

This photo is probably from the early or mid 1960s. So not from the era you would be seeing on youtube videos. But gives an idea of the orientation relative to the shape of the ground.

It has the southern grandstand (A 1960s structure I think, maybe late 50s). But doesn't have the northern stand (also 1960s, was there by the time of the 1967 NZ v Wales rugby tests I have seen on youtube). Doesn't have the terrraces.

 

[Immenso]

From the 1954 Commonwealth Games, when it was less developed and could fit an Althletics track layout inside it.

 

[Immenso]

Here is a photo from the 'youtube' era:
(it looked like this between 1992 and 1999)

 

[Immenso]

It was a ground that had a reputation as being good for Left-hand batsman.

In the era of 'running it down to third man' being the defacto ODI shot. The boundary was only 50 long. And for the same sided batman the slog over long-on was the safest aerial shot.

 

[Jumno]

Thanks for the replies.

Why can't Auckland host tests?

In my opinion, the old Auckland ground was better, it seemed more interesting, better vantage points, the boundary sizes was bigger and in general the overall dimensions fitted cricket. The ground seemed more atmospheric.

 

[Flem274*]

I don't mind the dimensions at Auckland because of the common hooping swing because Aucklsnd is a humid hell in summer, and I think average odi scores would back me up. Many have targeted the straight boundary only to find first slip.

Seddon Park should get more scrutiny, but is at least a great ground to watch at. Maclean is bad for fans and for bowlers.

 

[thierry henry]

While obviously there are new stands etc, the basic dimensions haven't changed massively, just the orientation. The shortest boundaries now are dead straight at both ends, basically into the middle of the 2 main stands.

As you can see from Immenso's photo above, the middle of the main stands used to roughly align with backward square leg/extra cover for the right hander, again similar at both ends. This also meant that a cow corner slog for the lefty was a very short hit.

Eden Park was always known for its "odd dimensions" and being short in those particular areas, but I think the more symmetrical modern alignment has really put an emphasis on the short straight boundaries and made them more of a laughing stock than they used to be, despite the overall dimensions of the ground being much the same. It didn't used to be particularly short square or straight, it just had weird tiny boundaries in between, which somehow meant the perception was it was just weird more than small.

 

[thierry henry]

I don't mind the dimensions at Auckland because of the common hooping swing because Aucklsnd is a humid hell in summer, and I think average odi scores would back me up. Many have targeted the straight boundary only to find first slip.

Seddon Park should get more scrutiny, but is at least a great ground to watch at. Maclean is bad for fans and for bowlers.

I've never understood why Seddon is so small straight, almost into Eden Park territory, despite being purely a cricket ground.

 

[Flem274*]

I've never understood why Seddon is so small straight, almost into Eden Park territory, despite being purely a cricket ground.

Smushed between two roads

 

[Immenso]

I've never understood why Seddon is so small straight, almost into Eden Park territory, despite being purely a cricket ground.

They enlarged the Seddon Park southern hill/embankment in the early 2000s. Which ate into the playing area. They also moved the pitch block at that time during the refurb . Same orientation, but moved it about a pitch-length north to be centered in the now reduced playing field.

It used to be fairly normal size. About a Basin or Caketin size.

This photo from the refurb:

 

[Starfighter]

This is what I got using Google Earth. The 2015 one is the least bad available and doesn't have the boundaries marked, I did the best I could, and I've been generous. The axes on the old ground were a bit off-kilter, the green one could come a little straighter but I wasn't bothered to fix it.

 

[Jumno]

This is what I got using Google Earth. The 2015 one is the least bad available and doesn't have the boundaries marked, I did the best I could, and I've been generous. The axes on the old ground were a bit off-kilter, the green one could come a little straighter but I wasn't bothered to fix it.

View attachment 39281

View attachment 39282

Thanks for this.

The orientation as others have mentioned have changed. Which meant the straight boundaries back then were larger square boundaries were a decent size and some corners small.

The fence was used as the boundary in the 92 world cup which meant boundary sizes were bigger.

However the redevelopment changed the orientation which in turn meant the straight boundaries are fairly small.

However I loved the old eden park with the stands (92 world cup). It had a great feeling, very atmospheric.

 

[thierry henry]

They enlarged the Seddon Park southern hill/embankment in the early 2000s. Which ate into the playing area. They also moved the pitch block at that time during the refurb . Same orientation, but moved it about a pitch-length north to be centered in the now reduced playing field.

It used to be fairly normal size. About a Basin or Caketin size.

This photo from the refurb:
View attachment 39280

Yeah the Caketin isn’t even small really. I wanted to argue that point in the tour thread but little point feeding the trolls etc