Cricket frenzy hits the Garden City
Christchurch is geared up for the opening of the Cricket World Cup.
Cricket frenzy hits Christchurch tonight with a Cricket World Cup opening bash in Hagley Park including fireworks, speeches and entertainment.
Thousands of residents including those with little interest in cricket are expected to be drawn to the spectacle, which begins a weekend of public activities, and the opening match, of course.
Plus there is the annual climax of the Speights Coast to Coast triathlon race finish on Sunday.
The new Hagley Park cricket oval will be the host venue for the opening Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match on Saturday.
Two more matches will be played there on February 21 (Pakistan vs West Indies) and February 23 (England vs Scotland).
The world cup opening will also be an opportunity to showcase the post-quake city, three years after the last big one.
Visitors will be impressed with the incredible amount of new commercial building construction around the central business district, contrasting with the rubble desolation of much of old city centre, and the greening of vast swathes of red zone residential territory surrendered to nature on the east of the city en route to the seaside suburb of New Brighton.
They will enjoy playing dodgems with the traffic works and thousands of orange SCIRT traffic cones that adorn city streets, many of which will end up atop lamp posts and in the Avon River tonight.
There are actually four cricket ovals in Hagley Park and they will be used simultaneously for junior cricket matches tonight, plus a “backyard cricket” opportunity for anyone to have a go near the specially constructed podium in North Hagley Park where most of the celebrations will be held.
Chris Hutching
Thu, 12 Feb 2015
Thu, 12 Feb 2015
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Cricket frenzy hits the Garden City
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