Bumper crowds expected to flock to Adelaide Oval for biggest Test in seven years
SA Cricket Q&A: SACA president Will Rayner reveals plans for the Adelaide Oval Test match and opens up on the state of SA cricket in an exclusive Q&A with Andrew Capel.
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South Australian Cricket Association president Will Rayner has described next week’s Second Test between Australia and India at Adelaide Oval as “enormous’’ and boldly declared the day-night fixture would be the highest attended at the ground in seven years.
Buoyed by record SACA membership numbers and revealing there would be a “larger and improved’’ Village Green, Rayner said SACA was hoping for crowds “north of 40,000’’ for the first three days of the highly-anticipated Test, which starts on Friday.
“And if all of our 34,000 paid members turn up, we might get quite a few more than that,’’ Rayner said.
“This is one of the most anticipated Test matches at Adelaide Oval in a long time, it’s going to be an enormous Test and will bring the whole of Adelaide alive.’’
Eleven months after the shortest Adelaide Test in terms of balls bowled - and when nearly 17,000 spectators filed into the ground for less than a session of cricket on day three between Australia and the West Indies - Rayner believes if next week’s Test goes for the full five days it will be the highest attended Test at the oval since the second Ashes Test in 2017, which attracted a record crowd of 199,147.
That crowd included a whopping 55,317 on day one - the biggest Test crowd at Adelaide Oval since the ground’s renovation in 2014 - and 52,201 on day two as the Aussies beat England by 120 runs.
Last season, 67,050 attended the Australia-West Indies day Test in January, which lasted just one session into day three as the home side crushed the visitors by 10 wickets.
While Cricket Australia hasn’t disclosed ticket sales for this year’s Adelaide Oval Test, fans flocked in record numbers to the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Perth, with Western Australia recording Test attendance records of 31,302 and 32,368 on days one and two respectively.
Australia, which started the series as warm favourites to reclaim the prized Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014-15, suddenly has its back to the wall after being convincingly beaten by India in Perth, losing by 295 runs inside four days.
Rayner said the Australia versus India rivalry was quickly closing in on the Ashes as Australian cricket’s blockbuster event and that SACA would celebrate this year’s Test accordingly.
SACA’s world famous Village Green will be expanded while, for the first time, there will be a “Village Green in the sky’’ on level four of the southern stand at Adelaide Oval.
“You will see a larger and improved Village Green out the back (of the western stand) for members, but also the introduction of a ‘Village Green in the sky’ on the Lindsay Head Terrace in the southern stand,’’ Rayner said.
“Because of the growth in our membership, members will be able to sit behind the bowlers’ arms at the southern end for the first time and head up to the ‘Village Green in the sky’, which will look back over the city.
“It’s all about looking after our members and offering a better standard of food and beverage, which is what you’d expect from our regular Village Green.
“The Adelaide Oval Village Green is iconic globally and we are going to make it even bigger out the back this year, with some more food offerings for members.
“We are working with Cricket Australia to have a stronger South Australian focus out there as well. There will also be expanded kids play areas and dedicated kids zones, where they can play with their bats and balls and extend the carnival atmosphere.
“The only way to describe the Adelaide Test to people from the eastern states is that this is our Spring Carnival. It’s more than a cricket match, the whole place comes alive.’’
Fresh from securing a blockbuster, seven-year, Adelaide Oval premium Test deal with Cricket Australia, Rayner - in a wide-ranging interview - spoke exclusively to The Advertiser about the state of SA cricket and SACA’s plans “to be the best in the world’’.
Andrew Capel: How big is this year’s Adelaide Oval Test going to be?
Will Rayner: It’s going to be enormous. We have hit record (SACA) membership numbers on the back of this Test and the longer term Test deal for Adelaide Oval. We have 34,000 paid members this year - 6000 more than the previous record. To put that into context, I think the next biggest cricket membership is (England’s) Lord’s with 17,000, so we are nearly twice as big as the next biggest cricket organisation in the world. That is not something we take for granted. I think that shows what great support we get for this ground, this event and for good scheduling against good opposition. But I also know the outer ticket sales are going really well and are up on the last Indian tour (in 2020-21), so I think we will see crowds north of 40,000 for the first three days of the Test, which would be a fantastic result. The Ashes next year might be slightly bigger for us in terms of crowd numbers but the gap is rapidly closing between an Australia v England and Australia v India series.’’
AC: Has there been a more highly-anticipated Adelaide Oval Test in recent times?
WR: I wouldn’t have thought so. We had an Ashes Series during Covid (in 2021-22), which made that a very different experience, and the rivalry that you have between Australia and India now makes this contest an absolute pinnacle on the global cricket calendar, not just the Australian one. It’s going to be a massive Test match and the fact that (India star) Virat Kohli makes so many runs here and clearly loves playing at the ground will add to the occasion. Day-night, pink-ball Tests are fantastic for our state and to have Adelaide Oval and the city centre beamed into the eastern states in prime time is really significant. My personal view is that we should always have a balance of day and day-night Tests, which we have in our new long term deal with CA, which is great. We know our members are split 50-50 on whether they prefer the pink-ball or day Tests, so having a good split is a nice balance.
AC: In August, SACA secured a blockbuster deal with CA to host the “Christmas Test’’ at Adelaide Oval until the end of 2030-31. How significant is this for the state?
WR: It’s the best outcome we could possibly have hoped for. We never realistically thought that the Sydney or Melbourne Tests were under threat but our bid for the Sydney Test was genuine because we wanted Cricket Australia to understand what it was that they had here with the Adelaide Test. People often ask me whether I ever got cross with CA during our Test negotiations but that wasn’t the case because I think once we went to them highlighting the data on Adelaide Oval Tests it was very clear that this is a premium Test that deserves premium scheduling. That’s because of the crowds that come, the financial benefit to the game and the way South Australia supports it. So getting this Adelaide Oval schedule locked permanently into the calendar is not only great for SACA, it’s also great for Australian cricket because it means the best Tests are being played at the best grounds at the best times and you will get the best crowds and the best viewership, so it makes sense for Australian cricket. The fact that we’re kicking off the deal with the two biggest Test series on the global calendar is enormous. It’s not only great for SACA members and the cricketing public but also the state. The SA Government is a firm believer in an event-based economy and the Test is, in many respects, another AFL Gather Round where the city comes alive. That’s why we were really thrilled that the government helped us in our negotiations with CA because it understands how important big Test matches are for Adelaide Oval. The other important part that CA has got right is announcing Test dates and schedules well in advance, which allows people to plan their trips and for SA to get that international tourism dollar.
AC: The introduction of the Bradshaw Bell in 2021 to honour the legacy of former, highly-respected SACA chief executive Keith Bradshaw has been a wonderful addition to Adelaide Oval Tests. How important has this tradition become and can you give away any secrets about who might be ringing the bell this year?
WR: I’m sworn to secrecy on that one but the tradition has become a fantastic and iconic part of our Test match. The media has got right behind it and I’m lucky enough, as president, to be the person who makes the phone call to prospective bell ringers - some of who are very high profile globally - and to hear the excitement in their voice when they get asked, knowing it’s such a great honour, is one of the great privileges of my job. The bell ringing is a great tradition that we have borrowed from Lord’s because Keith had that great history with Lord’s as well as at Adelaide Oval. Clearly it’s to remember Keith and his legacy at SACA but it’s also become a celebration of our Test. This year’s group will have a very strong cricket flavour, a very strong South Australian flavour, but one that is suitable for an event as big as this Test.
AC: Is there anything else special that SACA has planned for this Test?
WR: You will see a larger and improved Village Green out the back (of the western stand) for members, but also, for the first time, there will be a “Village Green in the sky’’ on the Lindsay Head Terrace on level four of the southern stand. Because of the growth in our membership, members will be able to sit behind the bowlers’ arms at the southern end for the first time and head up to the “village green in the sky’’, which will look back over the city. It’s all about looking after our members and offering a better standard of food and beverage, which is what you’d expect from our regular Village Green. The Adelaide Oval Village Green is iconic globally and we are going to make it even bigger out the back this year, with some more food offerings for members. We are working with Cricket Australia to have a stronger South Australian focus out there as well. There will also be expanded kids play areas and dedicated kids zones, where they can play with their bats and balls and extend the carnival atmosphere. The only way to describe the Adelaide Test to people from the eastern states is that this is our Spring Carnival. It’s more than a cricket match, the whole place comes alive.
AC: So Adelaide Oval’s international Test calendar is sorted, what about SA cricket? Why has SACA ditched the Redbacks and Scorpions monikers and simply returned to the South Australia name for its men’s and women’s teams?
WR: Primarily it comes back to what Charlie (SACA chief executive Charlie Hodgson) and I have been saying for quite a while now, which is a desire to make SACA feel much more like a large cricket club instead of just an association. By definition, clubs are very inclusive places. You can be a member of a club, whether it’s as a scorer, selling a chook raffle or just a supporter and you still belong with that club and it builds that real connection with cricket. So we felt by having South Australia as the name that it was much more inclusive and meant that our women and men were competing under the same banner. It also means we won’t have different teams in the head office or back office of administration wondering whether they are working for the Redbacks or the Scorpions. We are all working collectively for South Australia. It aligns us in the one common direction. Changing the culture and building a high performance culture is not going to have a silver bullet and all these little things in isolation might appear insignificant but collectively they do change a culture. It can be something as simple as SACA members now being able to buy a member’s jacket with a South Australian cricket logo on it and knowing it’s the same logo that our captains wear when they go to toss the coin. As a player, it doesn’t matter whether you are playing for the men’s team, the women’s team or juniors, you are competing for South Australia and belong to South Australian cricket.
AC: SA’s men’s team has long been ridiculed, having not won a Sheffield Shield since 1995-96. How have you seen this season’s performances and is the team tracking in the right direction?
WR: Absolutely we are tracking in the right direction. We sit third with a two-win, two-draw, one-loss record but what’s been particularly pleasing from my perspective is that we have manufactured some wins or draws from really difficult positions, so there’s been that real fight and grit and players playing for the badge. We’ve also seen a strong squad performance, where some of the lesser known names have played really important batting innings or bowled important spells to contribute to that success. My view is that you probably won’t win your next Sheffield Shield with your three best players - every team has three superstars - but you are more likely to win it with three of your so-called lesser lights who can outperform players of the same ilk from the opposition. It’s all about squad depth. With our new coaching team - ‘Rhino’ (state men’s coach Ryan Harris) and Simon Insley (general manager of cricket) - and it’s going to be the same with Tim (Paine) with our BBL side - it’s very much a squad approach, a development approach and a philosophy that everyone has their role to play under that one team, which is why we have moved to the South Australia brand.
AC: There are three SA-based players in the Australian Test squad - Travis Head, Alex Carey and Nathan McSweeney. How important is that for SA cricket?
WR: That’s three of the top seven in the batting line-up, which is great. We know Travis and Alex are among the very best players in the world and it was fantastic for Nathan to get called up. Youngsters want role models, so it’s terrific from a South Australian point of view and gives everyone in SA cricket a boost. Importantly, they are all fantastic individuals as well, very likeable people, great characters and great for the game. They are loved in this state and want SA to have success and it’s terrific for the young players in our program to have them to look up to. My view is that having Australian representatives is an outcome of a good strategy here at SACA, not an input, and if we get things right and win enough first-class games, both in the men’s and women’s competitions, then we will produce more Australian players.
AC: SACA lost men’s coach Jason Gillespie to Pakistan in April and replaced him with Ryan Harris. What has he brought to the group?
WR: That was Dizzy’s (Gillespie’s) decision after he got the role with Pakistan and you would never step in the way of someone getting an international Test role, so he went with our best wishes. ‘Rhino’ (Harris) has brought a real squad mentality to the group. He has shown real belief in our youngsters and has been really clear about being very purposeful with everything that we do. Every training must have a purpose to it. Obviously he was here as an understudy to Jason, so it’s more of an evolution of what Jason was bringing, rather than a revolution. But ‘Rhino’ certainly brings his own trademarks and is doing a great job.
AC: There has been a very mixed reaction to SACA’s decision two years ago to introduce a $10 admittance fee to Sheffield Shield games for non-members, with some fans refusing to attend on those grounds. Will this be reviewed?
WR: That’s about valuing our product because when you go to Adelaide Oval you are going to one of the world’s best cricket grounds and there is a value to that. We also want to respect and reward our members with extra benefits because at the start of the season they pay for access to the ground and support us with their hard-earned money. The flip side of course is would we get more people to games without the $10 fee? The statistics show that we weren’t getting more people through the gates when it was free. So people who say they are not coming to the cricket now because they have to pay doesn’t match up with the numbers. But if there is a groundswell of support for change we will revisit it. Everything is open for debate.
AC: On the local club cricket scene, which is so important in the development of first-class players, you’re in the second year of the controversial two-division system for Premier Cricket. Has it been a hit or a miss?
WR: I think it’s been a hit. Bear in mind we said we would give it a three-year trial period before we do a formal review. If you go back to the first principles of why we did it, we wanted more games to have relevance to create tougher cricket and a better standard. Last season - the first year of the two-division system - there were only two games across Division 1 and 2 that didn’t impact finals or relegation. So there were hardly any dead rubbers. And I can guarantee the pressure of scoring a hundred in a grand final in Division 2 is exactly the same as Division 1. From that perspective it’s been a big success. Our cricket department is also thrilled that the SA under-19s are playing together as a battle-hardened team. It will take some time for the benefit of that to come through but our under-19s playing together in a semi-professional environment with a more dedicated level of coaching, we think, over time, will pay dividends. The criticism that we would see mass migration of players (to Division 1 clubs) and other secondary impacts hasn’t come through yet. But, as I said, we will review it after three years. What we do know is that doing nothing wasn’t an option because there was universal agreement that we needed to improve Premier Cricket, so we were determined to try something.
AC: Under the new system however the gap between the best and worst first-grade teams arguably has never been greater. That must be a concern?
WR: It’s certainly a concern. But I don’t think it’s a function of two divisions. These things can be cyclical and the other point is that if there are some clubs that are struggling at the moment you wouldn’t want them playing against the really strong teams because it won’t lead to a good standard of cricket.
AC: The contentious Hussey Review pinpointed there were too many clubs (13) in Premier Cricket. Now, with the inclusion of a SACA under-19s side, there are 14. How does that make sense?
WR: People keep coming back to the Hussey Review but you must remember Michael’s recommendation was that there should be only eight clubs and no byes. What we didn’t ask him to write in his report was how he would implement any of his recommendations - and that’s the big decision. There were lots of great recommendations but they were, in essence, theoretical. My role, as president of SACA and chair of the board of management, was how to actually make them happen. The two-division model was our response to try to improve Premier Cricket. We are not for one moment saying it is perfect but I don’t think any system is. What I do know is that every other state is taking a very close look at our two division format because they do see some potential upside for it.
AC: Most other states have a lot more Premier Cricket clubs than SA, including Western Australia (16), which has won the past three Sheffield Shields and One-Day Cups. So why does SACA use a 13-club system as a reason for a lack of success?
WR: I don’t use that as a single reason. The answer to all these questions is that there is no silver bullet. What we need to do is make hundreds of improvements right across the board, from branding to the coaching staff we have, to our Premier Cricket department, to our youth programs and participation that collectively combine to produce the results that we are after.
We are not sitting here saying two divisions are going to solve all of the issues of the under-performance of the men’s program but we think it’s a step in the right direction.
AC: Another concern raised about Premier Cricket is that some of the club grounds, facilities and pitches don’t compare to the quality of those interstate or even some Adelaide Turf clubs like Goodwood, Payneham and Brighton. Is that a concern for SACA and what is being done about it?
WR: It’s a concern for Australian cricket. There are some good grounds around the place, we have our fair share as well, but you are right, we would like to improve cricket facilities across the state. We are spending more on improving facilities than we ever have but the expenditure has to be right across the board, from the very basic community participation facilities through to Premier Cricket. It’s another argument as to why we needed a really good Test match schedule for Adelaide Oval and good SACA membership numbers because that gives us the best ability to create enough money to invest back into the game. We’ve just invested more than $2 million into the Places to Play initiative, building 50 high quality, hard pitches for juniors to play on in an effort to continue to build mass junior participation, which is critical to the game. We are now looking at Premier Cricket facilities. There is a two-pronged approach to that. One is the existing Premier Cricket clubs and the second is the emergence of the women’s game, which basically doubles your requirements for good facilities. We want Premier Cricket to be played on good, fast pitches with good outfields and good clubrooms.
AC: Local fans are crying out to see more South Australians in the men’s state squad. Of this season’s primary 22-player squad, 13 are from interstate. Would you like to see a better balance?
WR: I think that’s a reflection of our smaller population compared to most states. I don’t have a specific view on what the ratio of locals versus interstaters should be but we are looking to develop homegrown players and would love to see more of them in our state side. It should be noted that of our three Test players, two of them are homegrown products. We would love to have another generation where you have a Greg Blewett, a Jason Gillespie and a Darren Lehmann all coming through at the same time but that can be cyclible. What is important is that the players we bring in from interstate not only have talent but the right personality and culture. Nathan McSweeney (from Queensland) wears that SA skipper’s blazer with an awful lot of pride. It’s always going to be a balancing act but we make no apologies for looking for the best talent to play for South Australia, no matter where it’s from, because we want to be successful.
AC: The numbers show that not enough talented SA youngsters are pushing through to play first-class cricket. Does that mean you need to invest more heavily in your development programs?
WR: That’s something we are looking at and is one of the reasons we have appointed Simon Insley (from New Zealand’s high performance program) as our new general manager of cricket. As part of the changes that we have introduced, we no longer have what was previously called a high performance department and instead refer to it simply as the cricket department. My view was that SACA should be aiming for high performance right across the organisation from the board down. Simon comes from New Zealand, which is a country with a smaller population but a very good culture and has a reputation for always punching above its weight. That’s what we would love SACA to be renowned for. So it’s no coincidence that we got Simon, with his background and skill set, on board to try to replicate that in the way that we operate. As I keep saying, there is no silver bullet with any of this, it’s going to be little parts of our cricket program, little parts of our Premier Cricket program and little parts of our junior development program that collectively will lead to more success.
AC: SACA made the second biggest profit ($3.6m) of all states last year and has the second highest total assets ($101m) - behind only WA. How pleasing are those numbers and how can this financial security be best used to improve SA cricket?
WR: If you look at our strategic strengths and weaknesses, population will always be a weakness. We are never going to have a population like New South Wales but we can make sure we have a really robust business model and balance sheet. That was a by-product of people like Ian McLachlan (former SACA president) and others that have come before me and it’s an asset that we should really protect and be using to help us. It clearly is reflected in the standard of our ground here at Adelaide Oval, which, if it’s not the best cricket ground in the world it must be among the top couple. Our financial security allows us to invest back in the game - in junior programs, with facilities, with Premier Cricket, so it’s pretty critical.
AC: Having secured a long-term premium Test deal for Adelaide Oval, what’s the next biggest challenge facing SA cricket?
WR: We have a lot of the foundational pieces sorted but we would love to see more on-field success. There is no silver bullet with that and it’s a really competitive environment. Unlike footy, we don’t have equalisation measures, a draft or fixtures that favour certain teams, so we have to find ways to fight within that structure, which is a big challenge. But we are up for the fight and I think we are seeing some improvement. Another challenge is how we support the growth of the women’s game because it’s growing so quickly and we have to make sure we have the infrastructure, support structures and staff to support that. We are among the very best on-field in the women’s program, by virtue of having won back-to-back WBBL titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Then there are the structural issues that every cricket organisation is facing around making sure that we have strong participation rates and that we get that pipeline working in a really competitive environment. SACA has been around for more than 150 years and while we do take a long-term view with things we do have a sense of urgency around wanting to improve in every area we can because we want to be the best in the world.
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