Harry Barker Reserve
Harry Barker Reserve is a cricket and hockey ground in Te Hapara, Gisborne, New Zealand. It occupies 9.3 hectares and includes six cricket fields and nine hockey pitches.
Establishment
The Gisborne City Council purchased the Turanganui Golf Course in 1962, and developed it into a housing estate on the State [Highway 2 (New Zealand)|Pacific Coast Highway]. The houses surround a substantial recreational area, which the council named the Harry Barker Reserve after a former mayor of Gisborne.Cricket
Harry Barker Reserve held its first first-class match when Northern Districts men's [cricket team|Northern Districts] played Otago in the 1974–75 Plunket Shield. As of April 2025 the ground has held 28 first-class matches, the most recent in January 2014. The first List A match there was in the 1981–82 New Zealand [limited-overs cricket trophy|Shell Cup] when Northern Districts played Wellington. As of April 2025 the ground has held 11 List A matches, the most recent in January 2015. A three-day match between a New Zealand XI and the Zimbabwean [cricket team in New Zealand in 2011–12|touring Zimbabwean team] was played at the ground in January 2012.As well as the main cricket ground there are several other pitches spread out across the reserve. The Poverty Bay Cricket Association often holds an entire senior three-match round of club cricket on the reserve simultaneously. It is the headquarters and main home ground of the Association.