New Delhi: Cricket Australia has left out the Gabba Stadium from its list of Test venues for the the next seven years after 2025, throwing the iconic Brisbane stadium’s future into uncertainty.
On Sunday the CA announced its home international series schedule till 2032 but didn’t include Gabba in it. It was the first time in over half a century that Gabba has not been named one of the Test centuries.
CA chief executive Nick Hockley urged the Queensland government to pump in money into a new stadium that will be more useful in the long term.
Brisbane is scheduled to host the Olympics in 2032, and its organisers had plans of revamping the Gabba for hosting the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics events but that plan hasn’t found favours due to high costs.
It has thrown the future of the stadium into doubt with Hockley saying they are looking to find long-term solutions for the fans.
“We’re interested in the best provision for cricket and for cricket fans into the long term,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.
“I think what has become clear is that the useful economic life of the Gabba is kind of nearing an end point.
“I would think we welcome that there’ll be further investment in the near term. But we are really interested, and we think that the sports fans of Queensland deserve a brilliant, fit for purpose stadium for the longer term.
“So we’re interested to understand what that will look like.”
‘Disappointing’
Australia’s other famous Test centres – Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide – have been retained in CA’s future plans for the next seven-year period.
The Gabba is scheduled to host a day-night Test Ashes series against England in late 2025 but is not among the list of schedules for the 2026-27 season, getting excluded for the first time in 50 years.
“I think everyone’s waiting to understand what the stadia strategy is going to be going forward,” said Hockley.
“So we’re in very regular dialogue with all the relevant parties up in Queensland, and those discussions will continue over the coming months.”
The abscence of Gabba was terribly dissapointing for Queensland Cricket chair Kirsten Pike and chief executive Terry Svenson.
“The state government’s decision to not progress with its commitment to rebuild the Gabba and downgrade its proposed Olympic role has resulted in direct and indirect changes to how we proceed with our business,” they said.
“The lack of detail about timings, promised improvements, and actual investment in the Gabba is driving uncertainty and is likely to continue to affect our operations until it is addressed.”
Cricket Australia has not included Gabba as one its Test venues beyond 2025, making it the first time in over half a century that the Brisbane stadium has been excluded Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
