PLANS are being put forward for a new sport-themed sculpture at the heart of the home of Hampshire cricket.

Visitors to the Ageas Bowl ground could soon be greeted at the turnstiles by the newly commissioned piece of artwork costing nearly £40,000 at the venue in West End.

Council bosses hope it will be in place to coincide with the completion of the controversial Hilton hotel on site, which is set to open in May this year.

The £39,430 artwork, paid for out of hotel developer contributions to Eastleigh Borough Council, features six life-sized figures, depicting slow-motion capture of the bowling action based on bowlers associated with Hampshire Cricket.

The release of the ball will be towards sculptor Richard Farrington’s Howzat cricket stumps, another piece of artwork at the main entrance to the site.

The figures, made of stainless steel, are suspended above the ground and have a semi-transparent quality, with successive figures gradually becoming more solid.

The final figure has a polished surface and is designed to reflect passing crowds and the Ageas Bowl ground.

It would sit on the grassed banks of Marshall Drive, opposite the main turnstiles.

The plans put forward by Eastleigh Borough Council, will be considered by members of the Hedge End, West End and Botley Local Area Committee tonight.

A council report states the sculpture will fulfil developers’ section 106 obligations – money paid to the council as part of agreements to compensate or mitigate the effects of building work – for public art associated with the development.

The project is intended to enhance the public areas of the ground and create a “sense of arrival for users of both the cricket ground and surrounding facilities”, the council officer’s report says.

The artwork was designed by a council officer.

As previously reported, work on the luxury 171- bedroom Hilton hotel continues ahead of its anticipated opening, which is one year behind schedule.

The site had been left empty for six months from October 2013 after Denizen, the contractors for the hotel, which is underpinned by Eastleigh Borough Council funds, went into administration, although work has restarted under a new contractor.

The council says it has agreed to buy the completed hotel for £27.4m and insists it will not be paying any more than the sum agreed.

Once open, the hotel is expected to provide around 200 full and part-time jobs.

A public consultation on the artwork is ongoing and finishes on January 23.

The council officer’s report is recommending councillors delegate to the head of development management to permit the artwork once the consultation period has finished, subject to any responses.

Councillors will discuss the proposal in a meeting at the Hedge End 2000 Centre, St John’s Road, Hedge End, at 7pm.