Cricket at Metricon stadium

[hitthepost]

Interesting stuff! I wonder if the powers that be in Canberra or Geelong would be willing to spend $250,000 out of their own pocket just to get a game to their stadium.

ACT Government does this yearly for an ODI from my understanding.

I thought I read somewhere recently that they don't have a drop-in pitch at Manuka Oval?

They spend big money to get an ODI each summer, that's what I'm referring to.
They have an integral pitch block, though, yes.


(Aus venues with drop-ins: Adelaide Oval, MCG, Spotless Stadium, ANZ Stadium, Etihad Stadium, Simonds Stadium, Aurora Stadium)

 

[Matchu]

They spend big money to get an ODI each summer, that's what I'm referring to.
They have an integral pitch block, though, yes.


(Aus venues with drop-ins: Adelaide Oval, MCG, Spotless Stadium, ANZ Stadium, Etihad Stadium, Simonds Stadium, Aurora Stadium)

I see. Manuka has already hosted a BBL final and only managed a crowd of 11k so they didn't really put their best foot forward when it comes to securing a future BBL franchise.

Something else I found interesting in that Gold Coast Bulletin article was that the Suns want the local Gold Coast Dolphins team to play at Carrara. Sounds like it could be the first move to get Cricket Gold Coast to relocate back to Carrara.

 

[hitthepost]

I see. Manuka has already hosted a BBL final and only managed a crowd of 11k so they didn't really put their best foot forward when it comes to securing a future BBL franchise.

They can't "manage" many more in a ground with capacity of about 13,000. They only "manage" about 25k to Perth Scorchers games at the WACA, but they're all sell-outs.

That BBL final was also a neutral game, that must be taken into consideration. There's much more to securing a BBL franchise than one neutral BBL final.

10K at the ODI last week. 8k for Ireland v South Africa in the CWC. 11k for Afghanistan v Bangladesh. 11k for Aus v RSA in the ODI series last summer. Consistently running at 75%+ for cricket.

 

[holybishop]

Cricket in Canberra is very strong, to the point where they're actually petitioning CA to replace Hobart as the 6th Test venue in the country. The fact that Manuka can only hold 13000 would be a detriment, as most BB games will instantly be sellouts, but if they do host tests and prove themselves as a viable and reliable cricket venue then it could catapult them ahead of GC and Geelong in the race.

 

[Matchu]

Giving it our best Bash

Mayor Tom Tate says his council will be at the "forefront" of helping to attract a Big Bash League team to Metricon Stadium.

Gold Coast Suns boss Andrew Travis last month called on Cricket Australia to fast-track the arrival of the hugely popular Twenty20 format to the ground in a move that could lay the foundation for international cricket in the city.

While the Mayor is most interested in helping Metricon stadium operators the Suns attract international entertainment acts, he said he and the council would also work with the club to lure a Big Bash franchise to play on the Coast.

"The council would work closely with the Suns in providing a first-class entertainment venue," he said. "I would love to see Snoop Dogg ... Pink and those sort of artists."

The Mayor was in favour of events that would provide entertainment options for Gold Coasters and also act as tourism drivers.

Twenty20 cricket is firmly in the entertainment category, and he said: "I think with the cricket, it would lend itself to play there very much and if there's ways this council can help attract that, I would be right in the forefront with that. I view these events as entertainment events.

"The cricket would suit the Gold Coast lifestyle," he said.

"If the stadium is sitting idle, we can turn it round and we can get out there.

"We know that the transport infrastructure is there and I would encourage more events so that instead of the Gold Coast going all the way up to the M1 to Boondall (for concerts or the Gabba for cricket), we can go to Metricon Stadium and let Brisbane people come down here, have the whole weekend - enjoy the surf, the sun, the sand."

Travis told the Bulletin the Suns were so serious about hosting games in the near future they would be willing to invest the estimated $250,000 needed for a drop-in wicket if it meant the BBL became a regular feature on the Coast.

Tate believes there is scope for all sorts of cricket on the Coast.

"As a matter of fact, I'd love it to have a Prime Minister's XI (match) in there. Maybe I'd make some choices as well - and we can field a representative team and have a go and knock over some of those other teams. It would be a bit of fun," he said.

"You could send a challenge to the city of Mumbai and have it inter-city and you'd see all the Indians come over and it would attract more Indian tourists."

From the GC Bulletin today.

 

[nutstar]

The mayor is a Snoop Dogg fan... Respect

 

[Corkie]

The mayor is a Snoop Dogg fan... Respect

Fo Shizzle my Nizzle

 

[Billy ray]

Pretty sure his favourite song is drop it like it's hot.

 

[Garlic muncher]

Would have thought GC and metricon would be a good future 20/20 team base, good growth area and close to Brisbane for a derby.

Not sure how popular junior cricket is on the GC, either way it does not matter, with the closeness of Canberra to Sydney and already 2 teams there i would have thought GC has an advantage, although cricket is quite strong in Canberra.

 

[Matchu]

Andrew Symonds considers T20 comeback

I'd love to see the local boy Symonds come back and play for the Gold Coast in the BBL. I know it's unlikely considering his age but I'd still like to see it. Roy played for the Dolphins back in the day so he's no stranger to playing for the GC.

 

[Big Red Machine]

Andrew Symonds considers T20 comeback

I'd love to see the local boy Symonds come back and play for the Gold Coast in the BBL. I know it's unlikely considering his age but I'd still like to see it. Roy played for the Dolphins back in the day so he's no stranger to playing for the GC.

He played pretty well in Warnies T20 series over in the States, Same series that had current Hobart player Kumar Sangakarra in it.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

 

[Matchu]

Elite Cricket's Gold Coast return

ELITE cricket could return to the Gold Coast under plans to host T20 Big Bash or one-day international matches.

Cricket Australia representatives will visit the city next week to assess suitable venues including Metricon Stadium and Robina’s Bill Pippen Oval

Gold Coast City Council is working with the Gold Coast District Cricket Club to upgrade facilities to bring them up to International Cricket Council standard.

Drop-in pitches would be used at Metricon Stadium to prevent disruption to the surface which hosts AFL games.

Among those excited are Gold Coast Dolphins president Jeff Pfaff and players Josh Arnold and Sam Day, who yesterday took their bats on to the turf for a hit.

Mr Pfaff said the chances of establishing the Gold Coast as a major cricketing centre were growing.

“We are working to build up cricket again and we are starting to get the Gold Coast back on the radar,” he said. “The idea has been well-received and Cricket Australia, the council and Suns are interested so things are promising, especially with the talk of expanding the Big Bash series.”


The Gold Coast last hosted major cricket games in the 1990s, including hosting England for a Test.

Council economic development boss Hermann Vorster confirmed hosting international cricket again was a long-term goal but said there was a clear appetite for more major sporting events on the Coast.

“Greater participation in the sports economy must be a legacy outcome of the Commonwealth Games and there is a clear opportunity for the Gold Coast to attract more cricket,” he said.

Exciting stuff! Hopefully they impress Cricket Australia when they tour the city next week.

 

[SandyToes]

How could they possibly compare the Pippen ground to Metricon??

 

[Matchu]

How could they possibly compare the Pippen ground to Metricon??

Cricket Gold Coast are based at Bill Pippen Oval in Robina. Hopefully Cricket Australia pushes them to move to Carrara because the facilities in Robina aren't great...

 

[Matchu]

The Gold Coast News elaborated on the cricket situation tonight. The plan is to grow a pitch at Robina and then drop it in at Metricon for BBL games/T20 Internationals/ODIs. Gold Coast Cricket are very much in favour of playing at Metricon and don't want to play at The Gabba.

They did say a significant upgrade to the Robina facility is required to make this a reality and the GC city council is investing big money to ensure it does.

 

[GcSunsfan]

 

[QLDbeachbabe]

Cricket would be great on the coast

 

[exile]

 

[exile]

https://www.facebook.com/WilliamOwenJonesDivision2GoldCoast/posts/1181753828572572

 

[hitthepost]

Does anyone know why they didn't run the pitch goal-to-goal? I would have thought that'd be close enough to a North-South alignment, and the square boundaries would still have been decently-sized from what I can tell.

 

[exile]

Does anyone know why they didn't run the pitch goal-to-goal? I would have thought that'd be close enough to a North-South alignment, and the square boundaries would still have been decently-sized from what I can tell.

not sure. marked it up on google maps based on the above photos. goal to goal would have been closer to north/south than what they're doing. does seem a bit of a weird orientation they're going with.

 

[holybishop]

The premium seats for cricket are always behind the bowlers arm and the worst are along the leg side. Have the wicket run goal-goal means that the premium AFL seats along the wings become the worst cricket seats and vice versa. This keeps the wings at a decent price point. Plus since the commentary boxes arent changing from the wing the commentators will have a better eye on what's happening with this diagonal angle even if its not ideal.

 

[SUNS]

You would think the scoreboard at its current location would be a massive hinderance to batsmen if it was at the goal to goal line

 

[Matchu]

Does anyone know why they didn't run the pitch goal-to-goal? I would have thought that'd be close enough to a North-South alignment, and the square boundaries would still have been decently-sized from what I can tell.

Maybe they did it that way for broadcasting purposes? I've definitely seen a cameraman positioned on top of the bar/snack outlet to the west of the river side before. It should also allow the massive video screen to stay behind the goals up the river end as it shouldn't be in the batter's eyesight.

Those are my guesses.

 

[hitthepost]

As someone from Adelaide and a SACA member I've grown up watching cricket from square so I never think of that as a problem when working out pitch alignment in existing stadia! But for those who are used to sitting along the line of the pitch, aligning this way means that 3/4 of this area is grandstand seating (the right-hander's long-off would only be the "behind the goals" seats at the scoreboard end), so this does increase the number of "good" seats.


With the replay screen, I would have thought that so long as the image is still during the actual delivery (this happens as a matter of course anyway) it wouldn't be a problem. Perhaps the lower section would need to be blacked out to form part of the sight-screen but this would still work as far as I know - the current advertising screens used in the sight-screen area are digital screens anyway (blanked out for white-ball cricket but they have a "blind" or something over them for red/pink-ball cricket as the white would be rather bright in the evening or lower-light conditions).
This happens sometimes at AO if they use a pitch on the eastern side of the block.