The New Zealand Sports Turf Conference ended in Rotorua yesterday, with the focus on how the country's most well-known venue for major sport, Eden Park, is leading the way in exploring the use of technology to expand the potential of a major stadium.

For some time the Eden Park authorities have aspired to turn the famous Auckland location into a truly multi-use stadium of international standard, able to stage high-class fixtures in cricket, rugby and other sports despite the conflicting requirements of overlapping seasons.

Poor soil drainage also has to be overcome. This has limited the number of events that the Eden Park turf can stage, a problem compounded by the all-day shadow cast over part of the field by the massive, new North Stand.

Last year, Eden Park groundsman Warwick Sisson went around the world to investigate how turf managers elsewhere have succeeded in creating a playing surface that matches the excellence of the rest of the facilities in modern stadia. He shared his experiences with delegates.

Some magnificent venues have appeared in recent years, but they have usually been designed with the needs of the spectators (especially the corporate market) uppermost. Architects have often remained in ignorance of the needs of good turf management.

Enclosed arenas with towering stands on all sides severely restrict the supply of the groundsman's most valued commodities - sun and air. In these conditions turf management often means no more than slowing down the rate at which the grass dies.

Sisson found that, for this reason, major venues increasingly favour removable surfaces. The best system he saw was at the Giants Stadium in New York. Here, two complete fields are grown outside the stadium in squares, ready to be used as necessary.

A similar system operates at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, scene of the Rugby World Cup Final in 1999. However, in Wales the pitch stays in place for longer periods, resulting in a significant loss of surface quality.

The main problem with such projects is expense. Each time a pitch is replaced at the Millenium Stadium there is a bill for NZ$250,000. Alternatives include mixing artificial and natural grass.

Sisson concluded that no one method stands out as being superior to others. "All systems have successes and failures. We are still in the middle of the learning curve on these issues."

Events dictated that as far as the Eden Park cricket block was concerned, there was no time for a leisurely decision. In October 2000 the 2001 Super 12 draw was announced. The Auckland Blues were scheduled to play the Canterbury Crusaders at the ground just five days before the First Test against Pakistan.

Worse news followed. The rugby authorities would not allow any covering of the block in the lead up to their game. This made it impossible to guarantee a pitch of Test quality. A portable pitch that could be inserted after the Super 12 game was deemed to be the only answer.

Hurried research led to the choice of the StrathAyr portable pitch, a system successfully in place at the Colonial Stadium in Melbourne. It came with a purpose-built carrier, thus avoiding the possibility of heavy vehicles becoming bogged down in Eden Park's delicate outfield.

Most significantly, the changeover of pitches was quick (about an hour to take one out and put the other in, according to Sisson) and could take place as often as needed, perfect for the demands of overlapping seasons.

When the Super 12 contest - the first rugby match to be played in Eden Park's long history without a cricket block in the middle of the pitch - was over, work began on the removal of the cricket pitch from its bed on the edge of the Number Two ground to the middle.

Disaster appeared to have struck when it was discovered that the preparation tray had not drained properly, leaving a soft lower layer beneath a hard surface. With official concern already evident over the quality of recent Eden Park test pitches, the four days leading up to the First Test were anxious ones for the ground authorities.

They were delighted when the pitch defied predictions to produce a Pakistan victory on the fifth day. 1065 runs were scored at a fraction under three an over, a more-than-respectable performance.

Much still has to be learned about the use of portable pitches. The following Test, at Jade Stadium in Christchurch was also played on a removable surface, though a different system to that used in Auckland. The pitch was lifeless and produced a desperately dull match.

However, confidence in the new technology at Eden Park is high enough for ambitious plans to be made to stage cricket and rugby there on the same day, with a two-hour break sufficient to transform the ground from summer to winter mode.

At the end of the conference New Zealand Cricket operations manager John F Reid told delegates to "promote yourselves as professionals doing a very important job" having found that "the industry is backwards in coming forward in many ways." He encouraged turf managers to actively promote "good news stories" about their successes.

Reid told CricInfo that New Zealand Cricket had played a full role in the organisation of the conference, with Karl Johnson, NZC's turf manager, being on the organising committee. NZC had made it possible for turf managers from all leading venues to attend and was delighted with the results.

© CricInfo