PERTH: Cricket Australia (CA) Thursday confirmed the International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved Perth Stadium as a venue fit to host all international cricket formats, formally lowering the curtain on the city's venerable WACA Ground.
In addition to the news of the venue being accredited, Cricket Australia and the Western Australian Cricket Association also confirmed the new 60,000-capacity stadium will host a sold-out one-day international against England on January 28 in the first sporting event held at the state-of-the-art arena.
Perth Stadium will become the twelfth venue in Australia to hold accreditation to host international cricket content.
ICC match referee Richie Richardson completed the venue inspection and submitted a glowing report on the stadium.
“This is by far the most impressive and well laid out stadium I have ever visited. The comprehensive amenities, along with the quality and functionality of the facility, surpasses the required standard to host any international cricket match,” said Richardson.
“The layout of the stadium provides convenient easement within and around the facility and it is located within close proximity of the city center.
“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 concluded.
Cricket will be the opening sporting event at the stadium, with the ODI providing an incredible opportunity for cricket fans in WA, and the broader national and international cricket community, to experience the game at its very best in Perth’s new state-of-the-art stadium.
With initial tickets to the event selling out in less than 24 hours, additional tickets have been made available and will go on sale from Friday.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public from 10AM AWST.
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said: “The ICC report provides a glowing preview of the stadium and the government of WA, VenuesLive and those who built the stadium should be extremely proud.
“It is not only very exciting for cricket to host the first major sporting event at Optus Stadium, but it is also a huge honour. An historic event, a capacity crowd, a state of the art stadium and an Australia-England fixture - what more could a cricket fan want for?”
“The stadium is a magnificent asset for the state of WA and its sports fans. We very much look forward to bringing this big Australia-England One-Day match to Perth to the stadium on 28 January,” said Sutherland.
Acting minister for Sport and Recreation Peter Tinley said: “Richie Richardson is a cricketing legend who has toured stadiums around the world so this is high praise indeed.
“Perth will now be able to lay claim to having the best cricket stadium in the world, boosting the city’s ability to attract big-ticket events and more tourists.
“We are about to embark on a new era for cricket in Western Australia – and this endorsement will travel far and wide throughout the international cricket community, putting Perth on show to the world.
WACA CEO Ms Christina Matthews said: “The highly complementary ICC report is a testament to those involved in the planning and construction and we thank all those involved.
“The WA state government have worked closely with the Western Australian Cricket Association and Cricket Australia to create a stadium which puts fans at the forefront and we can’t wait to share the new world-class facilities with Western Australia’s cricket fans.
“You can feel the excitement and anticipation building for the upcoming One-Day International at Optus Stadium and we’re proud to be part of such an historic moment for cricket, and sport, in WA.”
Should the Perth Scorchers secure home finals, these will be held at Perth Stadium following a full regular season at the WACA ground.
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