Daily Times

SYDNEY: Perth Stadium is set to take over hosting duties from the historic WACA ground after the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved the newly-built venue to host all international formats, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Thursday. The 50,000-seater stadium will now become the main venue for cricket in Western Australia, and the fifth one-day international between Australia and England on Jan. 28 will be the first major sporting event held at the ground. “The stadium is a magnificent asset for the state of WA and its sports fan,” said Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland. “We very much look forward to bringing this big Australia-England one-day match to Perth to the Stadium on 28 January.” The state-of-the-art stadium will also host matches from the domestic Big Bash League, Australian rules football and soccer.

ICC match referee Richie Richardson said the stadium was “world class” after an inspection. “The new Perth Stadium is a wonderful, refreshing, world class stadium, and I have no hesitation in recommending that the venue is approved for staging all three formats of international cricket,” he added. The ODI between Australia and England will be the fifth and final match of the series, which begins on Jan. 14. It follows the home side’s dominant 4-0 Ashes test series win. The WACA, which has hosted cricket matches since the early 1890s, will be turned into a boutique ground with a capacity of 10,000-15,000 by the local board.

Published in Daily Times, January 12^th 2017.