Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Sideline Sid caught up with his musical side for a short period on Sunday on the way to a cricket match at Mount Maunganui.

Blissfully unaware of Summerfest at Blake Park, Sid arrived outside the confines of the Blake Park, to be greeted by a myriad of cars and people coming and going from the family day out.

He took a little time between cricket watching duties, to wander over the festival perimeter and catch some of the music.

What a wonderful family event with young and old having nothing but happy smiles on their faces.

The alcohol free day attracted families from throughout the Western Bay in there thousands.

The organisers are to be congratulated on staging an event that caters for families in a safe and happy environment.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we should be eternally grateful for provision of the wonderful large areas of parks and reserves in the Western Bay.

While we probably need more indoor sport specific buildings – what we do have is green space in abundance.

Few cities and towns in the country have such a large quantity of green space as Blake Park.

Not only does it have plenty of room for a number of different sports, it has parking in spades, within easy walking distance off the venue.

Blake Park is ideal for top quality rugby events, as shown by the crowd numbers at the recent Bay of Plenty and Mount Maunganui Sevens tournament.

Just a cricket ball throw away is the relatively new Bay of Plenty Cricket Oval, with seating on the grass banks for up to ten thousand spectators.

With the Cricket World Cup in New Zealand (and Australia) just three years away, it is likely that the Oval will have a role to play in the tournament that will capture world attention.

With the addition of permanent changing rooms, the ground will be ideal for International warm-up matches.

The allocation of World Cup games, could revolve around a suitable pavilion being up and running in time for pre-tournament inspections, well out from tournament.

A hockey ball hit away from the Blake Park cricket wickets, is the top class hockey venue that has already hosted international matches.

Once again a real plus is the easy walk up parking.

Add in the outstanding netball and tennis courts accessed from Maunganui Road, and the brand new bowling and croquet greens that are adjacent to the hockey, rugby and cricket fields – and you have a multitude of venues capable of hosting top quality sporting events in the Western Bay.

While it is 20 years since World Cricket Cup was played in New Zealand – Sideline Sid still has vivid memories of how the home side entranced the nation with their stirring performances.

A seven game winning streak took them to the semi-finals, where Pakistan chased down 262, after Inzaman ul Haq went ballistic smashing 60 runs off just 37 balls.

One name on every Kiwi cricket follower's lips during the tournament was Mark Greatbatch, who wrote his name into the annuals of New Zealand cricket history, blazing away with the bat on every occasion. Another Black Cap masterstroke, was the then unheard of opening the bowling with a spinner, with Dipak Patel mesmerising the opposition batsmen early in the innings.

It would be fantastic in three years' time if the World Cricket Cup heroics could be played out in our own backyard.

Seeya at the Game