antonius said:
A one dayer in Newcastle would be sensational, people would be hanging off the rafters. I am amazed they haven't done it yet.
NSW Cricket have an existing arrangement with the Sydney Cricket Ground's owners (who also manage the Football Stadium) whereby matches are strongly encouraged to be in Sydney, specifically at the SCG.
While exceptions have been made in the past, it was only really last year that wholesale changes were made to fixtures. ING Cup games were staged at the Olympic Stadium, Drummoyne and Bankstown.
The SCG is reluctant to move state cricket from their turf, so you can imagine the issue involved in a One Day International fixture or Test Match.
There were recent comments that questioned why the SCG was given a second Test match when crowd figures proved to be so low. Some people (including myself) wondered why Newcastle's No.1 Sportsground couldn't be used for such a Test Match, especially when a similar number attended the Test match to the number which attended NSW vs WA in Newcastle in January this year.
But an existing arrangement between Cricket NSW and the SCG Trust specifies that Test Matches in NSW cannot be taken away from the SCG. Unfortunately this means that fans just don't attend such low-pressure matches.
I think you will find that No.1 Sportsground will host Pura Cup fixtures every year for the foreseeable future. More than 16,000 over 4 days, the ground looked wonderfully lush, both sides were happy with the facilities and a narrow win to the Blues was witnessed.
Given that the 16,000 total over 4 days eclipsed South Australia's Pura Cup home-ground seasonal total, it may say a lot about the profitability of staging matches outside capital cities. Given the local cricket association here were given full responsibility (and rights to all profits) for the match last season, it is a workable arrangement.
The Newcastle District Cricket Association also received an award for the best marketing of a sporting event at a recent Hunter Sports Awards ceremony. It may say something about how much the local association wants (and needs) state cricket in the region.
I'm off now to umpire a game
Junior matches still Tony? There is always room for more umpires - it has its rewards.