Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
Interest in the New Zealand home international summer of cricket shows no sign of abating, with the “sold out” sign already posted for the first T20 of next month’s five match series against Australia men.
No more tickets are available for the BLACKCAPS series opener under lights at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval on Monday, February 22, and there are very limited tickets available for the second match at Dunedin’s University of Otago Oval, on Thursday, February 25.
NZC chief executive David White said the game continued to ride a wave of popularity this summer, which he put down to a combination of a fresh approach from broadcasters Spark Sport, TVNZ and Mediaworks Radio, and the stellar performance of the BLACKCAPS.
Additionally, he said, the new lights at Hagley Oval gave the Christchurch venue impressive flexibility.
“It’s been great to see the installation of the lights at Hagley Oval and the option to play day-nighters in
Christchurch – and I think we’re seeing the immediate benefits of that,” he said.
“We’re delighted with the overall response so far. Australia is certainly a drawcard but I think fans are just as eager to see the BLACKCAPS in action, particularly given the way they’ve played this summer.”
NZC is also noticing strong sales for the final three games of the series – at Sky Stadium, Wellington, on Wednesday, March 3; at Eden Park, Auckland on Friday, March 5, and at Bay Oval, Tauranga on Sunday, March 7.
These three games also act as double-headers with the WHITE FERNS-England T20 fixtures.
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
