South Australia's bid to steal the New Year's Test from New South Wales comes as a deal with Cricket Australia for premium matches reaches its expiry, it has been revealed.
Adelaide Oval has emerged as a surprise option to potentially replace the SCG as the host venue for the early-January Test, a move that comes after yet another weather-affected match that led to no result between Australia and South Africa earlier this year.
“We believe SACA's (South Australian Cricket Association) got a compelling case in front of Cricket Australia that shows that our premium product deserves premium scheduling,” SACA president Will Rayner recently told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We really look forward to working with them to ensure that continues for our members.”
With Cricket Australia looking to finalise next summer's Test schedule down under, those discussions now look set to be pushed back to next month with SA pressing for a shock change to the calendar.
The state's wish to host the New Year's Test comes as a deal to give Adelaide Oval premium Test fixtures comes to an end.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, CA had formed a deal for premium Test matches to be held at Adelaide Oval shortly after the venue's $550 million redevelopment, with a trio of matches against India guaranteed in the agreement, giving the state priority over Queensland and Western Australia across series in 2014, 2018 and 2020.
The publication's report suggests that while CA is unlikely to make immediate drastic changes to its summer schedule, it could be open to a bidding war among states for premium matches.
South Australia's plans to seek a change to their slot in the summer schedule also comes ahead of a likely Test match against the West Indies, the same opponent Adelaide Oval hosted for this summer.
Seen as an underwhelming rival given their current red-ball struggles, which were made evident across the two-Test series last November and December, the West Indies aren't seen to be an attractive opposition compared to Australia's other 2023-24 tourists Pakistan.
Perth joined Adelaide in hosting the West Indies this summer, with the two states hopeful they will be in line to host Pakistan instead of successive schedules against the Caribbean nation.
“Pakistan's coming with the West Indies again, so I'm pretty hopeful we don't get the West Indies,” WA Cciet chair Avril Fahey told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“But it's about making sure we have an opportunity to deliver something for the fans in Perth.
“In WA cricket we've had some concerns around scheduling and the like, the Wednesday start in November, West Indies, a lot of things there make it really challenging for us to drive attendance. A number of our members have written to me about how disappointed they are with the scheduling we've received.”
The Western Australian cricket scene is seen to be on the rise with the states' strong international presence in the Australian squad and domestic success, which was only strengthened in the past week with the Perth Scorchers claiming their fight BBL title in front of 53,886 fans.
