The first recorded match held on the ground came in February 1878 when Hawke's Bay played the touring Australians.
[1] The New Zealand Times referred to the match as taking place "in Mr Braithwaite's paddock at Hastings, about a mile from the railway station".
[5] The ground held its first first-class match in 1914 when Hawke's Bay played Wellington.
Two further first-class matches were held there, one in 1914 when Hawke's Bay played the touring Australians and one in 1915 when Hawke's Bay played Canterbury in the 1914/15 Plunket Shield.
The New Zealand and England women's hockey teams played an international there in August 1914 in front of a crowd of 5000.