It is only a matter of time before a major disaster occurs on a playing surface to force the abandonment of a rugby or cricket Test in New Zealand.

The chief executive of the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute, Keith McAuliffe said turf managers of New Zealand's multi-use grounds were living on a knife edge.

"Turf Managers feel it is only a matter of time before there is a major disaster, with the playing surface, such as the forced abandonment of an international rugby or cricket match" he said.

McAuliffe said that much of the pressure on top level grounds had been brought about by the introduction of professional sport, with longer and overlapping seasons and higher expectations.

He noted that Super 12 rugby has been particularly challenging, with a requirement to provide rugby surfaces during what was traditionally the cricket season.

"What's more, this has meant our major multi-use venues having to produce international cricket strips within a few days of playing Super 12 rugby," he said.

McAuliffe says that so far no major disasters with this switch over has occurred, but he points out what could happen and the risks involved.

"Consider the recent one-day match New Zealand vs Pakistan at the Westpac Trust Stadium in Wellington, and imagine what would have happened if we had solid rain over the weekend of say the International Sevens weekend or the VFL match which preceded the one-day match.

"It would have been a massive task to salvage a good pitch from a badly scarred surface with only a few days available".

McAuliffe believes our major stadia are on the right track in developing modern technology such as portable pitches.

"There have been successful portable pitches at Jade Stadium for a couple of seasons now, so we know the technique works. The challenge for other venues is to make the technology affordable and practical".

McAuliffe says portable pitches will provide venues with the flexibility to swap between football and cricket.

He believes that the other options available, such as using synthetic covers over the strip in preparation or keeping the wicket block dry over the winter through covers, can and do work, but are not necessarily going to be an acceptable option in the long term.

"It is only a matter of time before the major user groups start to demand uniform playing conditions over the entire surface, and we are very much at the teething stage," McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe also refers to other challenges faced by our multi-use stadia. In particular, he referred to the problems of shade and logo marking and their effects on turf health and drainage.

"As our major stadia upgrade their stands and facilities we are seeing more of the playing surface shaded over winter. One only has to look at the problems experienced by the Millennium Stadium in Wales or the Colonial Stadium in Melbourne to appreciate that a turf sports field needs sunlight", he said.

McAuliffe mentioned that the NZ Sports Turf Institute has been working on behalf of New Zealand Cricket, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Hillary Commission to prepare a Code of Practice for multi-use venues. This publication will present guidelines to assist venues in matters such as coping with shade, dealing with night time sport and dew and logo marking.

"Our leading Turf Managers are going to need a great deal of support over the next couple of years", said McAuliffe.

"Developments in sport have meant major changes to how Turf Managers are required to operate and it is a matter for us to appreciate the constraints they face if we are to avoid an embarrassing failure with the playing surface".

© CricInfo