Indoor cricket turf to be ‘transformative’ for sport

Work has begun on a new, $2.2million indoor turf facility for keen cricketers to keep playing all year round.

Funded in part by the Otago Cricket Association, the facility will have about 14 natural grass pitches with full run-ups, alongside four artificial pitches for community use, two of which will also offer full run-ups.

Otago Cricket chief executive Mike Coggan said the project would be ‘‘transformative’’ for the region.

‘‘Year-round access to grass training facilities will accelerate player development and significantly enhance our high-performance environment.’’

The facility is being built on the site of four former tennis courts in Harbour Tce near Otago Polytechnic.

It will be a 66m×22m greenhouse-style structure and incorporate a mechanical opening roof and sides, enabling optimal grass growth during spring and summer while maintaining training capacity in

winter and during periods of inclement weather.

The project is in collaboration with New Zealand Cricket, the Otago Community Trust, the Dunedin City Council as well as Tennis Otago.

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