Brisbane Heat fans won’t be refunded after BBL clash cut short by light tower failure
Brisbane Heat fans have been left short changed after Big Bash League honchos refused to issue refunds following Thursday night’s light tower farce at the Gabba.
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Brisbane Heat fans have been left short changed after Big Bash League honchos refused to issue refunds following Thursday night’s light tower farce at the Gabba.
The Heat avoided a near certain defeat to the Sydney Thunder after an external power outage took out a light tower and forced the early abandonment of the game.
The Heat were only three overs into their run-chase in the Twenty20 fixture when the lights went out and after a one-hour delay the match was called off.
The outage was caused by a major fault in the Woolloongabba and East Brisbane network, with the Gabba was unable to use back-up power sources for the light tower.
Cricket Australia on Friday maintained refunds would not be issued, but offered fans a free ticket to next week’s day-night Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Gabba.
“Under Cricket Australia’s established terms and conditions, the 23 overs of play including the full innings of the Thunder meant that refunds are not applicable in this instance,” Cricket Australia’s Anthony Everard said.
“However, the Heat and Cricket Australia would like to extend an offer to fans to attend next week’s day-night Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Gabba for free.
“We are now working with Stadiums Queensland to investigate why this occurred, and to ensure there will be no further issues at future matches.”
The Gabba is now in the spotlight ahead of next week’s pink-ball Test match.
While the power failure was considered a freak event and Energex has been investigating the cause, it has raised concerns over the venue’s suitability for day-night cricket.
The rectangle Suncorp Stadium has back-up power for lighting if needed.
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The opposing teams were at war on Thursday night given there was sufficient light for the game to continue.
A Gabba spokeswoman said the venue had back-up lighting, but only for emergency situations and fan safety.
“Back-up power sources are available onsite should emergency lighting be required in a critical power failure (e.g. for safe crowd egress),” she said.
“However these were not required due to ample light availability from the remaining three towers and canopy lighting.
“The Gabba has never experienced an outage of this nature or duration and is currently having reliability and contingency discussions with Energex to ensure certainty of power supply for future events.”
The Gabba has slipped to be Australia’s No. 5 ranked cricket venue, and the power drama has not helped its cause.
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