Turf War: Fan-friendly Metricon turns up Heat on Gabba writes Robert Craddock
THE Gold Coast’s threat to steal a Test off the Gabba might be just the kick up the backside the old ground needs writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.
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THE Gold Coast’s threat to steal a Test off the Gabba might be just the kick up the backside the old ground needs.
Competition from upgraded or newly constructed venues like Adelaide and Perth is one thing.
But having your pants pulled down by your “little brother’’ would truly be a humbling moment for officials, who have let the Gabba become the venue that time forgot.
It may never happen but Gold Coasters do not have to apologise for making the suggestion.
In many ways Metricon is a more fan-friendly ground than the Gabba.
Access and parking are superior, and at least at Metricon you can get a sea breeze, unlike the Gabba where at times spectators feel like a turkey being baked for Christmas dinner.
It’s great to see Gold Coasters raising their sights but it must be said they are also under pressure to deliver in the batch of Big Bash matches they will host over the next three years.
Everything is in their favour with this project.
Summer holidays. Warm nights. Massive tourist numbers. A fine ground. A wonderful product. Cheap tickets. Great publicity.
If the Heat can’t draw sellout crowds on the tourist strip, then you might as well give up all hope of any sporting team on the Coast ever raising the rafters.
There is no excuse to fail.
The obvious conclusion from the Metricon project is that the Gold Coast will be at the head of the queue to become the first Big Bash expansion team.
But don’t hold your breath on that one.
Cricket Australia is understandably cautious about expansion. The eight-team mix is working nicely as it is.
While Commonwealth Games mascot Migaloo floated through the crowds at the Gold Coast, another whale of a project was quietly lurking in the shadows.
Growing inconspicuously on the edge of the Gold Coast Suns’ practice field, out of sight of the main stadium, were the two tubs containing drop-in cricket pitches.
The concrete plinths needed to accommodate the drop-ins were nestled peacefully a few metres beneath the centre of the stadium turf, where they had been installed 12 months earlier.
Getting Metricon Stadium to a cricket-ready state was a bit like the quest to land another white whale.
A delicate, complex process lasting several years that involved co-operation and investment from state and local governments, the Commonwealth Games, the Suns AFL team and a host of cricket bodies finally wove the tapestry together.
It was a major achievement which deserves to work — and almost certainly will.
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Originally published as Turf War: Fan-friendly Metricon turns up Heat on Gabba writes Robert Craddock