Editorial: Welcome to the Gabba, rightful home of the REAL First Test

Perth may have excelled in the Ashes series opener, but there’s a reason Brisbane’s Gabba remains the logical choice for the First Test of the summer, writes the editor.

We cheekily say on the front page of today’s Courier-Mail that the hit-out in Perth the weekend before last was a two-day trial for this – the REAL First Test of the summer. We do so only cheekily, because the contest in the West was indeed a memorable one.

But in a sport dominated by its traditions, the First Test being in Brisbane is one ritual that must be re-established well before the 2032-33 summer, when our capital city’s new Victoria Park stadium has next been locked in to host it again.

We understand why Cricket Australia took it off us. The ham-fisted approach to planning for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games by the previous state Labor government meant their solution was to knock down and rebuild the Gabba – a decision that would have left Brisbane without a Test match venue for almost a full decade.

Fortunately, sanity has prevailed. The destruction of The Gabba after it hosts the cricket medal matches in 2032 will be a sad occasion. But the current LNP government’s decision to build a new stadium at Victoria Park, on the opposite side of the CBD, means there is no reason the First Test cannot return in the meantime to its traditional home – The Gabba.

Cricket Australia’s deal with the West Australian government – an administration swimming in GST revenue raised here, redistributed there – was fair enough at the time, with the Gabba not an option. But that deal expires after next season – a summer where Brisbane will NOT host a single Test, due to there being only four against New Zealand – before a special 150th anniversary match at the MCG against England.

Cricket Australia announced last week the First Test of the following summer – and so, 2027-28 – against Pakistan will be held at the Adelaide Oval. Brisbane will likely host one of the two Tests at the end of that summer, against Sri Lanka.

But then comes the homecoming opportunity: with the summer of 2028-29 starting with a November Test against India – location TBC. The following year would then see the England team return for the next Ashes series here. After that, there would still be two more summers before the Games in 2032.

Long story short, Brisbane could host four more First Tests between now and 2032. We see no reason why this should not happen, with the Gabba now very much not going to be demolished before then.

Premier David Crisafulli is a cricket tragic. The only thing in the world that gets him more excited than a by-election victory is the sight of an in-swinging yorker in the first over of a Gabba Test.

There are moves to return the First Test to the Gabba before the iconic venue’s demolition.

He has been making lots of political noise recently lamenting the loss of the Gabba’s First Test – thanks to the tragi-comedy that was the third-term administration of former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. But Mr Crisafulli’s whinging is just that if he does not go and actually get a deal done with Cricket Australia.

Those negotiations would also be a test for Cricket Australia bosses – to show they rank home-ground advantage over dollars. Because the Gabba is our secret weapon. The last time Australia lost a First Test at the Gabba was in the 1988-89 summer against the West Indies.

Having the homeground advantage is a reality that is at the heart of Test cricket. The tourists usually come up against a program – and pitches – carefully crafted to work in the home team’s favour.

No other nations make these calls a bidding contest. They make the decisions based on what might happen on the field, rather than in the corporate boxes.

As Test great Jeff Thomson – a Queenslander – told our reporter Robert Craddock last month: “Last time we were in England, the Poms took us to Edgbaston for the First Test where we normally play shit. Why wouldn’t we do the same to them?” It was also telling to hear England bowler Gus Atkinson say before the Perth game that “history would say it’s probably a good thing we’re not starting at the Gabba”. They are scared of the place!

We were sad to hear that Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird – a former NSW premier – had said at a function during the Perth Test that “there is no doubt about it”, the First Test of the summer would be staying at Optus Stadium forever.

He knew he was wrong. The deal with South Australia for the First Test against Pakistan in December 2027 had already been done – just not announced. The deal struck with Queensland for the 2032 series to open at our new stadium had been announced earlier this year.

But his comment also suggested his approach to these decisions is to demand the states bid against each other – because he went on to tell that function: “Whatever Rita (Saffioti, WA’s deputy premier and sport minister) says happens, so if Rita wants it, it’s going to happen.”

Mr Crisafulli quickly sought a please-explain from Mr Baird, who claimed his comments were just tongue-in-cheek. Well that’s fine then – we will remind him of that handy get-out-of-jail card next time one of his cricketers says something silly about, hmmmm, maybe a first-day pitch being a “piece of s–t”.

Australia’s summer of Test cricket is simply better when it starts in Brisbane. It is tradition, and it gives us an advantage. We invite Mr Baird to discuss that truth in the speech he gives to his corporate box function at the Gabba today.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Welcome to the Gabba, rightful home of the REAL First Test