In Perth, the first Test of the intense Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway. The first three days of the opening Test at the Optus Stadium are expected to draw over 85,000 people, breaking the stadium’s previous record of 81,104 for a Test match, which was set against India in 2018.
Mike McKenna, the head of Optus Stadium in Perth, has criticised Cricket Australia (CA) harshly, even though there will likely be a large crowd for the first Test match between Australia and India beginning on November 22.
Because of stringent state biosecurity measures, Perth was unable to host Test matches against India during the 2020–21 edition of the historic series and England for the Ashes the following summer. This was one of the most notable instances of the poor relations between CA and the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) in recent years. The way CA handled Justin Langer’s resignation as national coach in February 2022, which sparked strong criticism from WA cricket fans, heightened the situation.
Fans were also displeased when CA’s top-performing squad pulled Test players Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, and Steven Smith days before the third ODI match against Pakistan in order to get ready for the Tests.
“We’re urging CA to show some love to the people of Washington by doing everything they can. Players will show up when CA puts the tickets on sale months in advance because they want people to purchase them with confidence. People who have purchased them in the past will reconsider their decision to do so in the future if they don’t show up, McKenna stated, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
You don’t want to send all of your guys back via plane: McKenna Mike
Although the ODI featured local talent, including Josh Inglis, the recently appointed captain, and four other West Australians, the attendance of 19,781 was low. Only about half as many people attended the Perth Scorchers’ Big Bash League games at the location as they did the previous season. Although McKenna acknowledged that CA needed to control player workload, he requested a more equitable strategy.
Given the quantity of cricket players must play, it is reasonable to balance their requirements for rest and rotation, but you don’t take them all out at once and try to convince us that it is in everyone’s best interests to place WA players in a weaker squad. It’s important to strike a balance such that none of your players fly back.
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The stadium manager came to the conclusion that it was kind of a smack in the face for those who committed to purchasing tickets for those games in advance to have so many talented players removed from the squad at such a late hour.
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