April 10 Wednesday 2002
Stadium Australia to host England cricket game

SYDNEY: Stadium Australia in Sydney will host its first cricket game in December when the touring English team takes on what is expected to be a near full-strength NSW at the former Olympic venue.

The game, scheduled as a day-nighter on Friday, December 6, is part of Stadium Australia's push to eventually host international one-day games. NSW Cricket Association Chief Executive David Gilbert said it was a great chance to promote the state side in a match that could feature former and current Australian stars such as the Waugh brothers, Michael Bevan, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.

The match will be played after the summer's third Ashes Test on December 3 and will be used by England as a warm-up for the triangular one-day series. 

The VB Series starts on December 13 at the SCG with a match between Australia and England. England will also play Australia A in Sydney on December 8 and the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on December 10. Stadium Australia Chief Executive Ken Edwards said the NSW-England game would help prove the venue was technically able to host a full One-day International. One barrier for the stadium is the Australian Cricket Board's long-term contract with the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust, which runs the SCG.

The SCG has an exclusive contract to hold international cricket in Sydney between October and March until 2005. "Once the existing arrangements at the SCG expire, or come up to expiry, we will put our best foot forward to secure as many One-day Internationals as we can," Edwards said.

Edwards also said the venue would look at Test matches but one-day games were the more likely outcome. He said Stadium Australia would be keen to host one-day matches outside the SCG's contracted period, in the same way venues such as Colonial Stadium were then hosting matches outside the traditional cricket season. 

Since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Stadium Australia has undergone an $80 million reconfiguration, which has seen the northern and southern stands demolished, the running track removed, and capacity reduced to about 80,000 from 110,000. The western and eastern stands can also be moved to bring them closer to the action for rectangular field sports such as rugby union and soccer. In its cricket and Australian Football mode, the oval is 170m long by 130m wide. It will have a similar width to the Adelaide Oval (128m) which is the narrowest Test cricket venue in Australia.

Stadium Australia will use a drop-in pitch for the NSW-England game, with turf company StrathAyr the most likely candidate to provide the pitch. StrathAyr look after the turf at Stadium Australia and have provided a drop-in strip for games at Colonial. Gilbert said the move to Stadium Australia was part of a longer-term strategy to promote state cricket. "With nearly half of our grade teams being based in the greater west (of Sydney) it makes sense to play cricket at the stadium," he said.