http://www.cairnspost.com.au/sport/local-sport/footy-first-at-cazalys-as-aus-a-cricket-tour-invitation-gets-red-light/story-fnjpuwsz-1226880549470
THE Far North’s cricket leaders fear that the region will start being ignored by Cricket Australia, after the invitation to host two, four-day games between Australia A and South Africa A in August was rejected by AFL Cairns.
But AFL Cairns boss Gary Young defended the move, saying the timing was not right and it was not a viable business decision.
Young said for professional cricket to return to Cazalys, a better option would be to target games early in the summer once footy season finished.
He reasoned that the timing in this instance was not good, considering the game fell between the Cairns AFL premiership game and AFL Cairns finals.
“To bring it up to a level it needs to be at and then back to a good state for footy would be unrealistic in that time frame,” Young said.
CFN president Greg O’Neill wants to send a message to Cricket Australia that the region is keen to host elite cricket, but Young said the prospect of play at the Test venue during footy season remained unlikely.
He said unless there was a “massive benefit back to AFL Cairns” they could not afford to eat into their season.
“I’m happy to defend that position. It’s AFL footy first and whatever we can fit in after that,” he said. “We will always try to fit things in if it works, benefits the city and is viable.”
Instead, Townsville will host both games while Brisbane and Darwin will also hold games between A teams from Australia, South Africa and India.
“It’s disappointing we couldn’t apply for it. We wanted it, Queensland Cricket wanted it, but the information was that it wouldn’t fit,” O’Neill said.
“We’ve got to work it out so we can have the information as early as possible and make it easier to arrange in the future.”
“Two teams and their entourage for that amount of time – it would have been a good input into the economy, a good spectacle and we need to be jumping on it.”
Australia A’s winter begins with two four-day matches against India A in Brisbane starting from July 6, followed by a quadrangular one-day tournament in Darwin.
That is followed by a pair of four-day games in Townsville against South Africa A in August, both of which were initially offered to Cairns.
Injured Test paceman Ryan Harris is Australia A’s assistant coach, while the squad features drawcards Pat Cummins, Alex Doolan, James Faulkner, Phil Hughes Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc.
Last Modified on 06/11/2014 15:07