WC venue guide: Christchurch, Hagley Oval

2015 World Cup

Cricket365
February 9, 2015

Established: 1886
Capacity: 20,000
Floodlights: Not permanent
Ends: TBC
Home Team: Canterbury
ODI History: 6 ODIs; 1 home wins; 5 away wins; – other

Overview

While the first recorded match at the Hagley oval in Christchurch was in 1887, the historic venue had never hosted a Test until Boxing Day 2014, where the Black Caps took on Sri Lanka.

The ground's international debut was nearly a year earlier, when it hosted Scotland and Canada in a World Cup qualifier. A week later, Scotland defeated Kenya here too, and until 26 December 2014, that was the only international mens' game the venue saw.

The venue was badly damaged by the earthquake in 2011, when it was Lancaster Park, and it had to be rebuilt to its current form. There had actually been no Test cricket in Christchurch since 2006, at AMI Stadium.

Getting the ground accredited as a Test venue was actually quite controversial and required a court case, as some felt the historic nature would be lost, and there are still no permanent floodlights at the ground.

It was approved as a venue for the 2015 World Cup too, where temporary seating and light towers have been added. They must be removed after the World Cup, according to the ruling by the environmental court.

Top ODI total: 341 for nine by Scotland VS Canada in 2014

Favours batting/bowling: With Hagley Park being a fairly new venue, their has only been one score of over 300, that was scored by Canada in a World Cup Qualifier in January 2013. Generally the bowlers enjoy it much more with the average team score being 260.

Best ODI batsman: Calum MacLeod ( Scotland) 192 runs in two innings. Macleod scored a mammoth 175 in one innings against Scotland.

Best ODI bowler: Khurram Chohan (Canada) five wickets in one innings. Chohan took five for 58 against Scotland in January 2014

Fixtures:

Sat Feb 14: Pool A – New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Sat Feb 21: Pool B – Pakistan v West Indies
Mon Feb 23: Pool A – England v Scotland

Most exciting match-up: Pool A – New Zealand v Sri Lanka