Popular City Sports Ground was Once a Swamp

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 743, 16 August 1929, Page 7

Popular City Sports Ground was Once a Swamp

TTP and up the leather soared to the sky, and then down it hurtled to shoot over the bar. Thirty thousand people the largest crowd ever assembled at a Rugby match in the Dominion —raised a mighty cheer to acclaim the dramatic effort of a master craftsman which brought victory to the Springboks. That is the picture, Eden Park, headquarters of Rugby football and cricket in Auckland, presented on that memorable afternoon of August 27, 1921, when Gerhard P. Morkel landed the field goal which gave the sons of the veldt victory over the All Blacks in the second and vital test. Carlaw Park, the headquarters of the League game, at one time was a Chinese market garden. There is no less romance attached to the development of Eden Park, for the past 2.0 years has seen a swamp transformed into one of the best known playing areas in the Dominion. lit the early years of the present century, the Kingsland Cricket Club first utilised part of the park as a wicket. In 1903 the ground fell into the hands of the Eden Cricket Club, a.nd in 1912, when the district cricket scheme was abolished, the Auckland Cricket Association assumed control. The cricket association had lost control of the Domain cricket ground, at one time recognised as the finest cricket area in Australasia.

As the Cricket Association was not then a registered body, the park was vested in nine trustees. A tremendous amount of stone had to be removed, and much filling-in work was necessary before the ground became the fine playing area it is today. The swamp was near the famous Cabbage Tree Swamp, only recently completely drained.

In the early days of the Eden Cricket Club’s tenure of the ground, both Soccer football and the Australian rules game were played there during the winter months. When the cricket association took over, there was some competition between the Rugby and League authorities for the use of the ground, and eventually it was sub-let to the Auckland Rugby Union in 1914 for use during the football season. After the war, negotiations were opened up on behalf of the Rugby Union with a view to it coming in as half-owners of the ground. Satisfactory terms were arranged, and in 1925 the Eden Park Board of Control took over the Auckland Cricket Association and the Auckland Rugby Union, now holding the ground jointly.

The board of control consists of three representatives each from the Cricket Association, the Rugby Union, and the trustees of the ground. At present its members are:—Trustees. Messrs. D. L. Clayton (chairman), and R. B. Lusk (the vacancy caused by the

death of the late Mr. Norman Williams has not yet been filled); cricket, Messrs. J. H. Watts, E. E. Nalder, and N. C. Snedden; Rugby, Messrs. H. Frost, A. St. C. Belcher, and J. Arneil. Thousands of pounds have been spent in recent years on the development of the ground. Literally hundreds of tons of rock had to be blasted out in places, and scoria three to four feet deep put in before the turf was laid down. The ground was trenched and drained, but on account of its lowlying position much more remains to be done before the ground will become ideal in the winter. Two years ago the famous “hill” at Eden Park was terraced. The Board of Control intends to slope the remainder and plant it in grass in readiness for the ooming visits to New Zealand of the English cricket team and the English Rugby representatives. Also, the ground where the score-board now stands is being sloped, and when all these improvements are effected it is expected that the ground will hold 40,000 people quite comfortably. Eden Park is unique as the headquarters of the chief winter and summer sports in Auckland, and, as a result, many memorable battles have been waged there, making it one of the best known grounds in New Zealand. Its facilities for accommodating a crowd are unrivalled.

Eden Park also holds the record for the largest crowd which has ever at-

tended a cricket match in New Zealand. On the Saturday of the New Zealand - Australia first test match in 1928, 9,192 people paid for admission to the ground. For the three days, the gate receipts totalled £l,o3o—also a record in New Zealand cricket. Apart from the big Springbok test in 1921, there were consistently big gates in 1923, when the Auckland Rugby representative side was at the height of its post-war fame, and was undefeated on its home ground. That year Southland was beaten by 37 —3, Taranaki 30 —9, Wanganui 58—0, Otago 16 —5, Wellington 21—15, and Hawke’s Bay 17 —9. Those were the days when Karl Ifwerson, Cooke, and the Badeleys were in their heyday. .Eden Park’s name as a playing area has in no small measure been due to the work of its caretaker, Mr. George Mills, a man who in his day has represented Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Otago, and New Zealand at cricket. He came to New Zealand as a boy some 57 years ago from Kent, and later wont to Melbourne, where in 1889 he became caretaker of the Essen - don ground. In 1894 he left again for New Zealand, to reside at Hawera, where he acted as ground caretaker and professional cricket coach. While there he represented the North Island at cricket. He was later stationed at Napier, Nocth Shore, and at the Carisbrook ground, Dunedin. For the past 23 years he has been at Eden Park, and during that period has done splen- ! did work.