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

Black Cap batsman Glenn Phillips smashed two centuries in six days at the Bay Oval, to bring further attention to one of the best international cricket grounds in world cricket.

The first T20 International at the Blake Park cricket venue on Sunday, saw the top order batsman go ballistic as he thumped a T20 International century off just 46 balls.

Phillips big bash eclipsed the previous best Black Cap T20 International record by one ball, belted by Colin Munro at the Bay Oval in 2018.

Just six days later, Phillips was at it again with a more pedestrian 138 from 184 balls, for New Zealand A against their West Indies counterparts.

The New Zealand A encounter, which included Western Bay's Joe Carter, looks set to become a more regular occurrence in the immediate post Coronavirus cricket world.

With world cricket on hold for much of the year, the international cricket visitors are bringing extended squads to New Zealand this summer, to give their countries fringe contenders a chance lay out their credentials for first team selection.

Both West Indies and Pakistan have arrived with up to 50 players, with the fringe players who are playing in the International A games, endeavouring to put pressure on the established stars.

A further reason for the extended squads, is the New Zealand two week quarantine doesn't allow injured players and replacements to freely come and go.

While some will criticise the International A games as producing meaningless results, the benefits for New Zealand Cricket are that a larger group of NZC Major Association players are exposed to the international game.

Glenn Phillips is a very good example of giving fringe contenders an opportunity to display their wares in International A competition.

While the South African born batsman has played 14 Black Cap T20 internationals, he is sure to want to add to the solitary test match with his New Zealand A outing at the Bay Oval doing his chances no harm.

Blake Park also showcased a rugby development pathway over the weekend, where the aspiring 7's stars of the future got to strut their stuff alongside established stars.

The occasion was the Red Bull Ignite7 tournament, where the start of the build-up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics began.

With the All Black Sevens and their Black Ferns Sevens counterparts out of action for much of 2020, due to COVID-19, the two day tournament dusted off the rust from the countries 7's elite.

However, there was plenty of focus on the emerging stars of the future.

To give the tournament an extra edge, the four men's and women's sides of Bolt, Inferno, Power and Surge, were drafted into teams by leaders of the All Black Sevens and Black Ferns Sevens sides.

The side-by-side high-level development pathways showcased at Blake Park over the weekend, are made possible because of the investment made by rugby and cricket to provide some of the best possible training and playing facilities in New Zealand, utilising the University of Waikato Adams Centre for High Performance and the Bay Oval.