CRICKET Tasmania is hopeful that the interest in Test cricket that the inaugural day-night match in Adelaide will create will have a positive impact on the attendance for Hobart’s date with cricket crowd destiny.
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In Launceston on Wednesday, Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin and chief executive David Johnston reiterated the need for the Tasmanian cricket public to attend the Test match between Australia and the West Indies from December 10.
Manuka Oval in Canberra is breathing down Bellerive Oval’s neck to be the sixth Test venue.
Another low crowd will put Bellerive’s Test future in question.
The longest form of the game will get a boost after a slow start to the summer and be in the forefront of peoples’ minds from Friday with first day-night encounter, with capacity crowds expected at Adelaide Oval.
Johnston said he hoped that the ‘‘appetite’’ for Test cricket would continue to Tasmania, where a largely unknown West Indian line-up will face Steve Smith’s new-look Australian side.
He said ticket sales were ‘‘tracking quite well’’, with a chance of an increase on recent numbers, with tickets cheaper this time around.
‘‘But what we need to remember if we do lose it (the Test), then Tasmanians will lose the opportunity to see the Australians playing,’’ Gaggin said.
‘‘If we get a strong attendance, then we can send a strong message to Cricket Australia that we want Test cricket.
‘‘So far Brisbane and Perth crowds have been below par, so if we can get better numbers, that says we still want to be hosting international cricket.’’
Johnston acknowledged the clash for cricket fans in the North with the Hobart Hurricanes hosting Women’s Big Bash League matches from December 11-13 at Aurora Stadium, but was hopeful that people would be able to combine the two if possible.
Johnston and Gaggin were in Launceston meeting Launceston City Council and Aurora Stadium officials, and were at Cricket North’s board meeting on Wednesday night.
They said the conversations involved Cricket Tasmania having a greater presence in the North, and that they were continuing to talk with Cricket Australia in regards to fixturing, and the state of club cricket.
The long-term idea of Cricket North being based at Aurora Stadium as part of a community-sports hub, which Gaggin revealed to The Examiner in October, would also again be discussed.
