Cricket Australia to meet NSW government over future of Sydney Test

Sydney’s New Year’s Test remains under threat from a multimillion-dollar South Australian push to claim the prime event despite the SCG being allocated a Pakistan Test beginning on January 3 next year.

A more proactive Cricket Australia under new chairman Mike Baird has had preliminary contact with the recently elected NSW government and arranged further meetings to discuss the value of the New Year’s Sydney Test to the state.

Pat Cummins leads his team onto the SCG in January. South Australia continues to aggressive chase the New Year’s Test. Credit: Getty

NSW Sport Minister Steve Kamper has dismissed suggestions Sydney would lose its New Year’s Test.

“The New Year’s Test is the largest annual sporting event in cricket’s largest market,” Kamper told this masthead.

“Sydney, in conjunction with the Jane McGrath Foundation, have really made the Pink Test a special occasion.

“The Pink Test is the home of Jane McGrath Day and one of the most important sporting fundraisers in the world.

New Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird. “I just don’t think we’ve had the ambition to take cricket where it needs to be. We’ve been taken for granted.”Credit: Nick Moir

“More than 100,000 fans flock to the SCG to take part in this iconic sporting event. ”

Cricket Australia has not guaranteed future New Year’s Tests will be played in Sydney, with Cricket Australia’s head of cricket operations and scheduling Peter Roach reflecting the organisation’s more enterprising approach.

“We are always looking at ways to optimise our schedule for the benefit of all Australian cricket, which is why we are working on a longer-term content strategy,” Roach told this masthead.

“The strong interest around the country in hosting major cricket matches is an indication of the enormous appeal of Australia’s national sport and of the enduring love of Test cricket in particular.”

Cricket Australia officially released this coming season’s international schedule on Sunday evening, with Perth allocated the first Test of the summer during December against Pakistan, to be followed by the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

The 50-over World Cup in India during October and November has pushed the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests against the West Indians into January, with Adelaide hosting a rare day Test and the Gabba a day-night Test.

Frustrated at being allocated a second successive Test against a weak West Indian side, the South Australian Cricket Association went rogue on Thursday, refusing to wait until Cricket Australia’s official schedule announcement.

SACA chief executive Charlie Hodgson claimed Adelaide had been guaranteed India and England Tests in mid-December over the following two years with an $8.4 million reduction in costs, and reiterated that the South Australian government’s 10-year offer to host the New Year’s Test “remained on the table”.

“While we have been guaranteed a December Test as a minimum there is still an opportunity to be bidding for that [New Year’s Test] from next year onwards,” Hodgson said, claiming CA had promised an “open and transparent long-term process from next year”.

The South Australian Cricket Association are frustrated they have been given a second successive Test against a weak West Indies team. Credit: Getty

The South Australian government has aggressively chased sporting events, pouring millions into securing a LIV Golf tournament and the AFL’s Gather Round last month. Every day of the golf tournament and all nine games of the AFL played in South Australia during Gather Round were sold out, with the government investing a reported $80 million to secure Gather Round for the next three years.

In a recent interview with this masthead, Baird, a former NSW premier, said: “Cricket has undervalued and underappreciated itself in terms of the broader Australian landscape.

“It has a significant fan base and significant global opportunities.

“I just don’t think we’ve had the ambition to take cricket where it needs to be. We’ve been taken for granted. I think sports like the AFL have done an incredible job, but I see no reason why we can’t be more successful than the AFL. I think it’s a mindset. It’s also a belief, and it’s the way we go about it.”

At recent meetings of Baird and the six state chairmen, and separately between Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley and the state CEOs, the overriding theme was “go for growth”.

The AFL’s recent, spectacular $4.5 billion television deal with Fox and Channel Seven over the next seven years contrasts with Cricket Australia’s flat $1.5 billion agreement with the same broadcasters over the same period.

It has prompted CA to look for other revenues streams to compete with AFL’s strong spending on junior development. Cricket NSW has a goal of doubling the number of five- to 12-year-olds playing cricket in the state.

2023-24 SUMMER OF INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

Men’s Test Series v Pakistan
14-18 December: Perth Stadium, Perth
26-30 December: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
3-7 January: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

Men’s Test Series v West Indies
17-21 January: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
25-29 January: The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N)

Dettol Men’s ODI Series v West Indies
2 February: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne (D/N)
4 February: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney (D/N)
6 February: Manuka Oval, Canberra (D/N)

Men’s T20I Series v West Indies
9 February: Blundstone Arena, Hobart (N)
11 February: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (N)
13 February: Perth Stadium, Perth

Women’s T20I Series v West Indies
1 October: North Sydney Oval, Sydney
2 October: North Sydney Oval, Sydney (N)
5 October: Allan Border Field, Brisbane (N)

Women’s ODI Series v West Indies
8 October: Allan Border Field, Brisbane
12 October: Junction Oval, Melbourne
15 October: Junction Oval, Melbourne

Women’s T20I Series v South Africa
27 January: Manuka Oval, Canberra
28 January: Manuka Oval, Canberra
30 January: Blundstone Arena, Hobart (N)

Women’s ODI Series v South Africa
3 February: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (D/N)
7 February: North Sydney Oval, Sydney (D/N)
10 February: North Sydney Oval, Sydney (D/N)

Women’s Test Match v South Africa
15-18 February: WACA Ground, Perth

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