PITCHING IN

Alice oval will get the Tassie treatment

CRICKET Tasmania will have a direct involvement in the preparation of Traeger Park when the Hobart Hurricanes kick off their BBL09 campaign against the Sydney Sixers.

As revealed in yesterday’s Mercury, the Hurricanes have sold one of their seven home matches for this year’s tournament to the Northern Territory.

The move — defended by CT chief Nick Cummins despite some backlash as less content for Tasmanian fans — will see Hobart open its campaign in Alice Springs on Friday December 20. The Adelaide Strikers were set to host the Perth Scorchers at Traeger Park in February, only for the match to be relocated due to the ground failing to meet the required standards.

“It probably indicates a lack of control, we will be playing an active role in ensuring the surface is first-class standard,” Cummins said.

“We can’t leave it to chance and we really have high expectations from a high-performance perspective, we can’t be disadvantaged. It needs to be a wicket and outfield that is of the same standard as Blundstone Arena.

“They have hosted a Big Bash game before, they hosted an AFL game last weekend.

“So Traeger Park is capable of hosting elite-level sport.”

It will be a hectic introduction for the Hurricanes into the Big Bash’s ninth edition, with the clash in Alice Springs backed up by a match against the Melbourne Stars at Moe two days later.

The side will then head home for its second Christmas Eve match against defending champions the Melbourne Renegades, before a break until December 30 when the Stars visit UTas Stadium for the first time.

Blundstone Arena’s four matches are all at least a week apart — a move Cummins believes will increase attendances despite the criticism for taking one game to Alice Springs.

“Naturally we expect some people will adversely be impacted by that, but we believe the opportunity far outweighs the challenges,” he said.

“The average number of games our fans attend when we had four home games was two, and when we had seven home games it is still two.

“Fans are effectively choosing which games they go to, rather than going to more games.”

The finals structure has also been changed, with the top five teams to feature in a series extending across two weekends, with the top two earning a double chance.