There are ambitious plans to host indoor Test cricket at a proposed new stadium in Hobart as part of Tasmania’s bid to join the Australian Football League (AFL).
The Tasmanian Devils are set to become the AFL’s 19th team in 2028, and part of the deal is based on building a new stadium. It is a 23,000-seat multipurpose stadium at Macquarie Point, with a transparent roof to allow for daytime cricket and floodlit T20s.
“We want to get into red ball (cricket), that’s our goal,” said Macquarie Point Development Corporation CEO Anne Beach. Sen Tashi. “The tricky thing is… you can’t get it certified until it’s built. So what we have to do is continue to work with Cricket (Tasmania) and Cricket Australia on the details and design process and brief the ICC to make sure all the information is available.
“We’re working with them through the detailed design to make sure we’ve taken into account everything they need. (So) hopefully they have a clear understanding of how it all comes together. That approval process should be pretty smooth. But we want to get that red ball approval and I think that’s critical to being able to put that full content in the stadium.”
Concept designs for the Macquarie Point stadium were unveiled earlier this week, with ball tracking data used to develop plans to ensure the roof is high enough for cricket.
“The biggest concern from the cricket side was the height of the roof… at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, they mentioned the possibility of the ball landing on the roof,” said Cox Architecture CEO Alistair Richardson.
“What we did was look at Hawk-Eye and ball-tracking technology and actually see how high someone could hit the ball, which is quite interesting. “Then we actually increased the roof to 50 metres and the crickets were really happy with it because no one had hit the ball from 50 metres.”
Experts say the roof design will have minimal impact on the stadium’s surface by casting shadows.
Marvel Stadium hosted indoor ODI matches in the early 2000s and while BBL matches can be played behind closed doors, Test cricket has never been played behind closed doors.
“There is a great opportunity for Tasmania to be at the forefront of innovation for the future of cricket,” Boon said. “We want to play cricket at this stadium and look forward to working with all parties over the coming months as the design is finalised.”
AAP contributed to this story.
