Cricket’s biggest tournament is coming to Nelson. It was confirmed yesterday by New Zealand Cricket that Saxton Oval will be one of seven venues used in New Zealand for the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Nelson will host three games, one featuring heavy weights the West Indies against Ireland and the others featuring Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and two other nations.
The ICC Cricket World Cup is reported to be one of the world’s largest sporting events with 2.2 billion viewers watching the last world cup on television.
In 2015 the tournament will be played in New Zealand and Australia.
Nelson mayor Aldo Miccio says it is huge news for Nelson and will bring back the hype and excitement the city saw during its hosting of the Rugby World Cup in 2011. “This will be second only to the rugby world cup as far as events that
Nelson has hosted. It will be fantastic for our city to be a part of. The Cricket World Cup is huge in England, Australia and South Africa, not to mention India and Sri Lanka and the other Asian countries. It’s their national sport so the
cup will attract a huge spectator audience on TV as well as a lot of travelling tourists.”
Nelson City Council’s cost to prepare the bid was capped at $900,000, including staff time.
Nelson Cricket’s Ed Shuttleworth says the event would be fantastic for our region. “The profile and legacy such a tournament brings would be felt for years to come, with increased awareness, participation and facilities. Every school kid would remember back to 2015 when they watched games at Saxton Oval.”
