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