Written by new-contact on Nov 7, 2014. Posted in On Location

NZ marks 100 days to Cricket World Cup with Auckland Harbour Bridge game

New Zealand has marked 100 days to the Cricket World Cup by staging a short game on Auckland Harbour Bridge. Australia and New Zealand are joint hosts of the competition in February and March next year, and players from both countries filmed the Auckland spot.

The Auckland Harbour Bridge spans the city’s Waitemata Harbour and carries up to 200,000 vehicles each day. It’s also the site of the world’s first harbour bungy jump.

"It's a privilege to come to New Zealand and play on the bridge, it's a unique venue,” said Andy Bichel, who won the Cricket World Cup with Australia in 2003 and took part in the bridge filming.

“The countdown to the ICC Cricket World Cup is definitely on and playing on the bridge to mark 100 days doesn’t happen every day."

Added Stephen Fleming, formerly of the New Zealand national team: “You play your career but you don’t think about playing on a bridge! It was definitely unusual but equally amazing batting on top of such an iconic structure.”

New Zealand is looking to rejuvenate its global location filming appeal with a boosted filming incentive programme that was part of the reason why James Cameron chose to film three Avatar sequels in the country.

Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy has become the most expensive film project in history with a production spend of nearly USD 745 million, according to newly-released financial documents. The films have collected around USD 120 million in filming incentive payments over a four-year production process.

(Photos: Getty Images)