More than 12,400 people attended the match.

“It just shows how big this region is for cricket,” Mr Cummins said.

“It’s really exciting, and the [City of Launceston] council has been really unbelievable in terms of their support. They’ve really taken ownership of the Hurricanes and we feel very much at home.

“Obviously there’s a bit of a novelty factor when you first play a Big Bash game, but the people returned in force.

“What was really pleasing was how much purple was in the crowd and that’s growing every time that we return.”

He said it was also great to see a big crowd for the women’s match earlier in the day.

City of Launceston mayor Albert van Zetten said it was a fantastic day.

“Would have been good to see a few more people there, but it was a great crowd and I think it’s just great that the North and North-West are coming out to support events at UTAS Stadium,” he said.

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“That’s what we want to see, more events here. The more people that come, the more events we can get.

“The game was probably a little disappointing – the Hurricanes won, but people like to see sixes and fours being hit. But, great result.

“It’s great to see the crowd come out, and hopefully we’re going to see an even bigger crowd at the next game on January 31.”

On Monday, Mr Cummins made a funding announcement for the Mowbray Cricket Club.

He said as part of the Australian Cricket Infrastructure fund, Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Australia made a $195,000 investment to be spent on facilities.

“We’re putting forward $15,000 to help develop Mowbray’s cricket nets to turn them into full turf practice nets to be used by the club, and also visiting teams,” he said.

“It's a very exciting time and obviously a great win for the Mowbray Cricket Club. 

“We really want to support those clubs that are growing the game in this part of Tasmania.”