The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved Optus Stadium to replace the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) Ground in hosting all international cricket fixtures in the state.
The soon-to-be-opened 60,000-seat stadium has been named as the primary cricket venue in Western Australia, Cricket Australia said today (Thursday).
The state-of-the-art Optus Stadium is due to open on January 28 with a one-day international match between Australia and England.
“The stadium is a magnificent asset for the state of WA and its sports fan,” said Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, according to the Reuters news agency. “We very much look forward to bringing this big Australia-England one-day match to Perth to the Stadium on 28 January.”
In addition to international cricket, the new venue will host matches from the domestic Big Bash League, Aussie rules football, rugby football.
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,” Richardson said.
Some of the new stadium’s features include five drop-in cricket wickets, four indoor warm-up wickets, 16 outdoor turf practice wickets and two dedicated player viewing rooms with direct access to both the changing rooms and the playing surface.
The WACA, which has hosted cricket matches since the early 1890s, will be turned into a boutique ground with a capacity of 10,000 to 15,000.
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