Olympic Stadium could be used for cricket?
Shadow Sports Minister’s suggestion that the Olympic bowl could be a future venue for high profile matches “makes perfect sense”
HUGH Robertson, the Conservative shadow sports minister, has joined other stakeholders in cricket in suggesting that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) should consider the London 2012 Olympic Stadium as a future venue for the sport.
This summer’s Ashes series has attracted sell- out crowds, again underlining the unique popularity of five-day cricket in this country.
The popularity of the biggest Test matches, as well as the advent of Twenty20 cricket, which attracts a more diverse demographic, has increased the need – widely recognised in the sport – for a “super-stadium” for high-profile international and Twenty20 matches. Lord’s, with a capacity of 28,000, is the largest ground available to the ECB.
When asked if the 2012 Olympic Stadium, in London’s East End, could be a viable venue for cricket, Robertson agreed and said: “Given that the public purse has paid half a billion pounds for the Olympic Stadium, it makes
perfect sense to examine every possible sporting use in legacy mode alongside the athletics.” The capacity would probably be 50,000 to 60,000.
Robertson’s views were echoed by many of the game’s stakeholders. These included Lalit Modi, head of the billion-dollar Twenty20 Indian Premier League, Hampshire chief executive Stuart Robertson, who is widely credited as having been the driving force behind the creation of Twenty20 when he worked for the ECB, and Keith Bradshaw, chief executive of MCC.
Bradshaw’s comments are particularly noteworthy considering the MCC own Lord’s and so are a potential competitor should cricket be played at the Olympic Stadium, or any larger venue.
Asked if there was a need to develop a bigger ground, Bradshaw said: “I’ve always wondered when that was going to happen. If you look at the commerciality, to be absolutely certain a
match will be staged on a particular day and time in terms of your corporate sponsors, and the public – that they would get their three hours of Twenty20, or whatever it is – this has to be a huge strategic advantage.”
He contined: Lord’s is in a residential area so there is only certain capacities we can go to. For us it’s 37-38,000, which is more a function of the footprint of the ground. We could accommodate – for an Ashes Test, when India play England, or Twenty20 – significantly more than 37,000.”
Modi pointed out the importance of floodlights for modern cricket and said, “Larger capacities will be required.”
In response to the potential use of the 2012 Olympic Stadium for cricket an ECB spokesperson said: “It’s a hypothetical situation which hasn’t been presented to us.”
Source: The Observer
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