Townsville’s Olympics: Cricket chiefs call for game-changing upgrades to Riverway Stadium

Townsville Cricket has appealed for a slice of billions of dollars in 2032 Olympic funding to leave a legacy outside of the state’s southest, by installing floodlights in the city’s premier oval.

TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 23: Naomi Osaka of Team Japan holds up the Olympic torch after lighting the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Past and present presidents of Townsville Cricket have told a senate committee that local facilities are in “dire need” of infrastructure upgrades if North Queensland is to play any part in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

The Queensland Government has committed to sharing hosting rights for the Games across the state, with Cairns, Townsville and Toowoomba earmarked as regional hubs.

While stadiums in Brisbane are expected to host most of the Olympic action, warm-up matches and displaced state- and national-level games will be searching for new homes - and Townsville’s flagship oval at Riverway Stadium could be a solution.

Acting Townsville Cricket president Peter Busch (pictured) told the Rural and Regional Affairs committee that investment would be required, leaving a broader legacy outside of the state’s southeast corner.

“If the regions are an option for this there is a dire need for infrastructure upgrades,” Busch said.

Aaron Finch of Australia walksagainst Zimbabwe at Riverway Stadium in 2022. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

“Riverway Stadium … does not have lights and does not host cricket or AFL matches (at night). I’ve said many times that it would be an absolute game changer to have lights.”

Busch argued that investment in lighting at the ground would serve multiple purposes.

First, in combating a “time famine” by extending the hours of day cricket is available to be played, and second, allowing cricket to be played outside of the midday hours where ultraviolet rays and heat deliver the fiercest sting.

“There’s also inadequate seating at the ground, and access to the ground badly needs upgrading,” Busch said.

“We would also welcome upgrades to our machinery, shade and access to water.”

As the government investigates the construction of temporary stadiums around southeast Queensland, Busch argued that investment would be better served in permanent upgrades to regional facilities that Queenslanders could enjoy for generations.

“To be the sport for working families, our legacy (from the Olympics) is lights on our training facilities and our fields,” Busch said.

Teachers West’s rugby union grounds were vandalised by hoons - an issue cricket officials hope to curtail by increasing opportunities to get involved in sport. Picture: Matt Taylor.

Past president Peter Raffles said Olympic investment into Townsville could help curtail the city’s reputation as Queensland’s “crime capital.”

“Many of our sporting fields have become playgrounds for young people in stolen cars,” Raffles said.

“We want to go another way. We want kids on the park but playing sport, where they can learn things like respect, self-worth, how to interact with others and, importantly, how to reach fulfilment. The lights will help us to achieve that, and if we achieve that that’s a longer term path to growth.”

Raffles said upfront investment would enable Townsville to benefit years into the future by attracting top quality sport to the city.

Originally published as Townsville’s Olympics: Cricket chiefs call for game-changing upgrades to Riverway Stadium