Tassie told don’t fret the wet as international Test cricket future assured, says Cricket Australia

IT was the first time in Australian Test cricket history that a full day’s play had been lost to rain in Hobart but it will not cost Blundstone future international matches, says the head of Cricket Australia.

Umpires, from left, Mick Martell, Richard Kettleborough and Aleem Dar inspect the pitch as rain stops play in the second Test between Australia and South Africa at Blundstone Arena. Picture: ROBERT CIANFLONE/GETTY IMAGES

IT was the first time in Australian Test cricket history that a full day’s play had been lost to rain in Hobart but Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland said it would not cost Blundstone future international matches.

Sutherland said he felt sorry for local fans when play was officially abandoned at 2pm yesterday without a ball being bowled, the first time an entire day’s had been wiped out by weather since the inaugural Test at Blundstone Arena in 1989.

Yet despite the washout _ and given the dreadful long range forecast posted earlier in the week _ he was more than happy with the near 9000 crowd figure on the opening day on Saturday.

“Absolutely, a tier one Test opponent down here is something they have longed for, for a long time,” Sutherland told ABC Grandstand when asked if he felt sorry for local supporters.

“Looking back when the long range forecast came out for the week, ticket sales — which were going very well — just dropped off the edge of a cliff, which you can understand.

“As it turned out we got pretty well a whole day’s play on day one … the day one crowd was very good, we were very pleased with it.

“At least it’s clearing for the next few days.”

Last summer speculation was rife that Hobart was fighting for its Test future moving forward, with Cricket Tasmania lobbying to be allocated a world class opponent.

The governing body responded by handing the state a marquee clash against the Proteas but the weather, coupled with the horrible run of form from the Australians and the injuries to star South African pair AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn, kept Saturday’s attendance to under 10,000.

It will be at least three years before another Test is played at Blundstone, with only five Ashes Tests on the calendar next summer and Canberra’s Manuka Oval given Test status in 2018-19.

However Sutherland declared the state will remain the mix.

“Definitely, this is a Test venue and we want to continue playing Test cricket down here.

“A little bit will depend on how things evolve with the structure of international cricket going forward, it may be there we don’t play as much Test cricket and probably a little bit less one day cricket, and probably a little bit more T20 cricket.

“It might be we reduce the total number of Test matches to five a summer, but we are still intent on sharing content around the country and matching it up according to who we play and making sure audiences around the country get their fair share of international cricket.”

Originally published as Tassie told don’t fret the wet as international Test cricket future assured, says Cricket Australia