The Waca has character but extreme heat during the third Ashes Test has highlighted problems with the ramshackle stadium
The Waca has beenfound wanting by the extreme heat of the first two days of the Perth Test, increasing the fears among locals and visitors alike that this historic and evocative cricketing venue is running out of time.
The need for several journalists to cool their laptops in the fridges at the back of the marquee on one of the hills that serves as a temporary press box for major matches may have caused some Twitter chatter, but spectators who have forked out for tickets had far greater concerns. Members were left queuing outside the ground for hours on the first morning, causing the Association to scrap its new ticketing system. At least they had some cover when they finally got inside: large parts of the ground open to the public are also open to the elements, leaving thousands of pasty Poms to fry.
Around 40 people needed first-aid treatment on the first day, most for heat-stroke, with four taken to hospital, and a Waca spokesman confirmed there had been further cases on day two. In fairness, the ground authorities had done all they could, whether installing fans in the media tent or making sunscreen and water freely available – around 30 litres of sunscreen had been distributed each day, and up to 40,000 bottles of water sold, in addition to that made available by the Redfrogs charity.
They even found a silver lining to the metaphorical cloud – there were precious few real ones – by suggesting that the heat had prompted many suffering punters to switch from beer to water, and therefore led to a significant improvement in spectator behaviour.
But Cricket Australia will not be impressed by the undeniable reality that it has been a test of endurance to watch the game, with ensuing health risks. The capacity of the Waca is also significantly lower than any of the other four venues being used in this series at 23,500, meaning a failure to maximise revenue. The warning signs are already flashing: Perth will not stage a Test in the next Australian summer, as the Waca was the obvious choice to miss out during a four-match series against India – the first time since 1976-77 there has been no Test cricket in the wild west. It has been allocated three games in the World Cup in early 2015 but Australia v Afghanistan may be a hard sell, and there are no major knockout games.
Yet even in such harsh conditions, there has been plenty to commend this Test, and the Waca as a venue that has retained the character both of its slightly ramshackle collection of stands and, crucially, its famously fast and bouncy pitch. It is hard to see Cricket Australia abandoning Perth as a venue - there is so much mining money in the west, and the city's isolation in an Asian time zone provides prime-time Test cricket in the eastern states.
But there is talk of a move to a new stadium, to be used by the West Coast and Fremantle Aussie Rules teams, which would seem to carry the risk of replicating the bowls of the Gabba in Brisbane and now in Sydney too. As the chief executive of the West Australian Cricket Association, Christina Matthews, a former international wicketkeeper, will lead the battle to keep international cricket at the Waca. Good luck to her, from this refrigerated laptop. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
The Waca has beenfound wanting by the extreme heat of the first two days of the Perth Test, increasing the fears among locals and visitors alike that this historic and evocative cricketing venue is running out of time.
The need for several journalists to cool their laptops in the fridges at the back of the marquee on one of the hills that serves as a temporary press box for major matches may have caused some Twitter chatter, but spectators who have forked out for tickets had far greater concerns. Members were left queuing outside the ground for hours on the first morning, causing the Association to scrap its new ticketing system. At least they had some cover when they finally got inside: large parts of the ground open to the public are also open to the elements, leaving thousands of pasty Poms to fry.
Around 40 people needed first-aid treatment on the first day, most for heat-stroke, with four taken to hospital, and a Waca spokesman confirmed there had been further cases on day two. In fairness, the ground authorities had done all they could, whether installing fans in the media tent or making sunscreen and water freely available – around 30 litres of sunscreen had been distributed each day, and up to 40,000 bottles of water sold, in addition to that made available by the Redfrogs charity.
They even found a silver lining to the metaphorical cloud – there were precious few real ones – by suggesting that the heat had prompted many suffering punters to switch from beer to water, and therefore led to a significant improvement in spectator behaviour.
But Cricket Australia will not be impressed by the undeniable reality that it has been a test of endurance to watch the game, with ensuing health risks. The capacity of the Waca is also significantly lower than any of the other four venues being used in this series at 23,500, meaning a failure to maximise revenue. The warning signs are already flashing: Perth will not stage a Test in the next Australian summer, as the Waca was the obvious choice to miss out during a four-match series against India – the first time since 1976-77 there has been no Test cricket in the wild west. It has been allocated three games in the World Cup in early 2015 but Australia v Afghanistan may be a hard sell, and there are no major knockout games.
Yet even in such harsh conditions, there has been plenty to commend this Test, and the Waca as a venue that has retained the character both of its slightly ramshackle collection of stands and, crucially, its famously fast and bouncy pitch. It is hard to see Cricket Australia abandoning Perth as a venue - there is so much mining money in the west, and the city's isolation in an Asian time zone provides prime-time Test cricket in the eastern states.
But there is talk of a move to a new stadium, to be used by the West Coast and Fremantle Aussie Rules teams, which would seem to carry the risk of replicating the bowls of the Gabba in Brisbane and now in Sydney too. As the chief executive of the West Australian Cricket Association, Christina Matthews, a former international wicketkeeper, will lead the battle to keep international cricket at the Waca. Good luck to her, from this refrigerated laptop. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.