Inside Adelaide Oval’s pitch by South Australian Cricket Association to host New Year’s Test match

The multimillion-dollar pitch backed by state government is revealed in a five-page letter to Cricket Australia. Read the details.

Adelaide is pitching to host the New Year’s men’s cricket Test match for up to seven years in a bid backed by state government funding expected to be worth millions of dollars.

Details of the bid are revealed in a five-page letter to Cricket Australia (CA), sent on January 27, which details Adelaide’s dominant national position in Test attendance, revenue, membership, tourism, climate, television ratings and turf pitch standard.

The New Year’s Test would remain a daytime contest like in Sydney, rather than the day/night match which Adelaide has pioneered, to promote spending in Adelaide bars and restaurants while fulfilling broadcast agreements.

Indian fans in the crowd celebrate as a Pakistan wicket falls as the sun sets during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Getty Images

In the letter, South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) chairman and president Will Rayner offers to host the New Year’s Test annually for “the next four to seven years”.

He says the Adelaide Test has ranked alongside Melbourne’s Boxing Day match as the nation’s most profitable for CA, despite the latter event enjoying “the benefits of the premium and regular scheduling”.

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas and NSW Labor leader Chris Minns go for a run at Bondi Beach on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“Over the past decade the Adelaide Test has been viewed as among the very best in the world. By almost any measure, it delivers a great spectacle for Australian cricket,” Mr Rayner says.

“ … Our Board are (sic) of the strong view that SACA’s past performance, the financial contribution of the Adelaide Test and the support of SACA members, provides compelling reasons for the Adelaide Test to be afforded the New Year’s Test schedule.

“Equally, we are of the view that Australia’s cricketing public would be supportive of the premium cricket product being afforded the scheduling that reflects that well-deserved premium status.”

The Adelaide Test generates more than $5m annually for CA under a commercial agreement inked in 2014, which Mr Rayner notes “will expire shortly”.

In his letter to outgoing CA chairman Lachlan Henderson, Mr Rayner says Premier Peter Malinauskas has backed the pitch and his government is “prepared to consider additional support for the event” – both “financial and non-financial”.

The total figure, likely to be in the millions of dollars, would depend on factors including forecast tourist numbers, hotel patronage and hospitality industry revenue.

Mr Rayner also signals SACA would pay “a significant sum” to “ensure the Adelaide Test remains the most profitable for CA”

Highlighting Adelaide Oval’s annual hosting of the successful New Year’s Eve annual Big Bash League contest, Mr Rayner says this demonstrates a “a track record of turning regular scheduling into premium events that become highlights of the Australian cricket calendar”.

He also declares members are “not universally supportive” of the day/night, or Pink Ball Tests, warning SACA has not been canvassed about their “effective permanency” and implications for “future scheduling constraints”.

Originally published as Inside Adelaide Oval’s pitch by South Australian Cricket Association to host New Year’s Test match