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Upgrade to Seddon Park – 2005-2006

In January 2005, for a number of well publicised reasons, Hamilton faced the distinct possibility of no longer hosting international cricket. Hamilton City Council consulted New Zealand Cricket and embarked on a major upgrade to include a new pitch block, new outfield and a new practice block to comply with the venue standards required.

Here's how the upgrade progressed:

The Main Block

For the main block, Waikari clay was preferred and given a 'fast tracked' yet sophisticated maturity. Here are some of the milestones in its development. 



Step one: Complete excavation of the pitch block to a depth of 150 mm

Step two: First layer of clay compacted with 12-ton roller

Step three: The clay was reinserted into the excavated hole it came from


Step four: To build up density, a massive amount of rolling (150 hours!) was done with 12-ton roller

Step five: Laser levelling of block in preparation for sewing. Then new grass was sewn!

The Outfield

The outfield had suffered from drainage problems for some time and this was a project due to be completed. This consisted of a sand slit plus a sand carpet.

There were 13 kms of sand slits and a sand carpet cover of 40 mms over the top.



Step one: Slits established in outfield. This was achieved with a ‘whiz wheel’

Step two: A close up of a slit, with pea metal and sand over the top

Step three: The slits were spaced 1 metre apart


Step four: The sand carpet being applied. ‘Brushing’ the sand.

Step five : The sand carpet was laid in 5 lots of 8mm at a time. Grass was sewn through each layer

Black Caps Training Camp: The Black Caps were among the first to test out both the pitch and the outfield

New Practice Area

A new practice area was required to meet the demands of international cricket. This in itself was another major project and started with a pile of clay shipped up by train from Christchurch.



Step one: Installation of drainage pipes and irrigation

Step two: Building the base using sports chip

Step three: Laser levelling of base in preparation for sewing