When the built it people probably went to cricket, but seems pretty crazy in hindsight with the sorts of crowds the cricket gets and the fact that there is an iconic and purpose built cricket ground just a couple of KM away.
that's true - you had to be pretty quick to get tickets for games at the Basin, it often sold out for NZ games, even Wellington games got decent crowds, was a good day out
remember at the time it was built rugby and cricket were the only realistic sports that were going to be using the stadium, football may have had an All White game there every now and then but no one imagined that the Phoenix would exist back then