Robert Craddock: Gabba lights drama highlights how far ground is falling behind in stadium wars
Thursday night’s lights-out drama has highlighted the Gabba’s mounting image problem. But it does have a couple of big pluses, writes Robert Craddock.
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A fleet of Energex vehicles descended upon the Gabba on Friday hoping to dig their way to the cause of the embarrassing Big Bash blackout.
Any chance they can keep digging and digging until they come up with a refurbished stadium?
Some observers wrote off the blackout as unavoidable bad luck that comes with a power shutdown outside the ground and there is no doubt that’s a fair argument.
But I spoke to at least one southern official who said if it happened at his more modern ground he would have had the back-up power supplies kicking into action to save the day.
Another official said his ground would have battled like the Gabba.
What cannot be disputed is the Gabba has a mounting image problem and is viewed in the cricket world much like an old car which, after many years of grand service, has been eclipsed by slicker models.
The obvious follow-up line is the fear it could happen again in next week’s day-night Test against Sri Lanka.
The worldwide embarrassment that would come if that happens is the downside of another blackout.
The consolation would be that at least it would shake the joint up and fast track the upgrade which seems to be talked about every year but never put into action.
Over the past month I have visited Test match venues in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney and noted with concern how far off the pace the Gabba has drifted in the stadium wars.
Listen: Our latest Cricket Unfiltered podcast is all about the Big Bash, with former Australian women’s captain Lisa Lisa Sthalekar joining the Herald Sun’s Sam Landsberger to discuss the state of the men’s and women’s Big Bash Leagues.
All things considered, all of the rival venues are more attractive cricket grounds than the Gabba.
Queensland cricket officials have two aces up their sleeves – the ground’s exceptional pitch and the fact it is 30 years since Australia lost a Brisbane Test.
Both are significant.
In an era in which Australian cricket is struggling to win a chook raffle to have a ground where they don’t know how to lose is a notable plus.
But it’s only part of the deal and not the deal clincher.
In most other areas – spectator comfort, Wi-Fi, parking, street access, public transport, bars and food – the other venues are ahead.
The Sydney Thunder are protesting over the points behind split with the Heat after the blackout and you cannot blame them.
There was plenty of talk in NSW on Friday about a Sheffield Shield game between NSW and Victoria a few seasons ago which was abandoned in Sydney due to the poor state of the ground.
Victoria received six points because of a law that stated if the game is abandoned due to the state of the ground the visiting team takes the points.
The spirit of the law is that if you can’t put on a proper game, you should pay the price but as fair as it sounds it does not apply in Big Bash where the Heat have pulled off cricket’s Great Escape.
The Thunder’s other problem is that because the match was a no-result their huge total does not count towards their competition run rate.
If you think the Thunder are dirty now wait and see how they react if they are pipped by the Heat for a finals berth due to an inferior run rate.
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Originally published as Robert Craddock: Gabba lights drama highlights how far ground is falling behind in stadium wars
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