If first Test of Aussie summer is to stay in Brisbane, the Gabba needs to put on something special

Perth can feel rightly aggrieved to have spent $1.6 billion on the fifth ranked cricket stadium in Australia. Much needs to be done if the Gabba is to retain its preferred status with both fans and Cricket Australia.

General photograph of the Gabba from Trafalgar Residences, 855 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba, Thursday, September 5, 2019 (AAP Image/Richard Walker)

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Brisbane has landed the treasured first Test against India next summer. But the message is clear - the age of entitlement is over.

Perth officials are furious because they built a $1.6 billion stadium in the hope of jumping up the queue yet they still could not leap over the dear old Gabba.

That leaves Perth ranked the No.5 venue in the country despite a spend which equates to around $600 from every person in their state.

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It’s an understandable whinge and it will only grow louder if Perth lose more tight calls, even given the Gabba’s current $35 million spruce up.

The Gabba is due a upgrade of facilities but also needs to spend time and money reaching out to local fans.

The challenge for Brisbane (and Cricket Australia who market the Test) when crowds are allowed back is to make sure Gabba Tests are more than they traditionally are, make the bells ring and whistles shrill to capture the attention of the city.

Don't just let it drift through town as it has too often. There's only one first Test every summer. Make it special.

Push it on television. Sell it to masses. Maybe have a special launch. Get the players out on the PR hustings (which it must be said they did last year) and get more day-night Tests because the climate suits them.

Try and lure the schoolkids to the weekend at least, as it comes a week out from the end of the school year. Don't just become obsessed about pushing the Big Bash.

Queensland Cricket should focus on attracting kids to the Test match as much or more than the BBL.

If crowds are allowed for the Indian series, think creatively with ticket prices, particularly since this will be the first Australian Test post COVID-19.

Money's tighter than ever.

Cricket must meet the market rather than wait for the market to form a traditional queue.

This game plan should continue long after the virus has disappeared.

The Gabba may not be a mega-crowd puller but the first Test of the summer rarely is because, unless it's the Ashes, it often blows through town like a northerly breeze without the tub-thumping promotion that could squeeze the best out of it.

The first Test - no matter where it is held - promotes the Tests which follow it but is often left under-promoted itself.

What the Gabba does do is lifts crowds for other venues. If say, Australia beats India by 40 runs at the Gabba you can bank on a five figure ticket surge at other venues if fans are allowed back in venues.

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said the reason why the Gabba got the Test was because if Perth landed it then WA would have secured a disproportionate number of India and England Tests over an eight-year period compared to Brisbane and CA’s charter was to spread the word nationally.

It is also understood that player power played a significant role in the Gabba getting the Test.

Tim Paine’s men are well aware the Gabba - where Australia has not lost for 32 years - is where they feel most comfortable and the opposition like least.

It’s a powerful credential.

But one day that record will fall and you have to wonder what happens then?