Cricket Australia have stood by their resolution to schedule the opening match of the worldwide season on the identical day because the NRL grand remaining and are adamant it will not be overshadowed.
A ladies’s Twenty20 between Australia and the West Indies at North Sydney Oval on October 1 will end solely hours earlier than the NRL grand remaining.
The conflict means some followers must select which occasion to attend, with TV viewers requested to resolve between the cricket and rugby league’s grand remaining lead-up video games.
CA take the view that in a cluttered schedule clashes are inevitable, however {that a} Sunday begin in Sydney is the appropriate solution to go. They will even hope to learn from Channel Seven selling the match throughout the AFL grand remaining the day before today.
They are additionally adamant the cricket season ought to begin on October 1, and have backed their world champion ladies’s group to nonetheless draw a powerful crowd.
“This fixture’s worked really well in the past,” Cricket Australia scheduling boss Peter Roach advised reporters on Monday.
“We’re fortunate to have the same broadcasters for both AFL and cricket so we know it’s a terrific lead-in for our women’s summer of cricket.
“We have adjusted the instances to verify we’re not intersecting with both the NRL ladies’s (or) males’s matches, however we all know it will be a terrific (sport).
“It’s a terrific venue for women’s cricket, North Sydney Oval, and it’ll be well supported as always.
“We have performed on the AFL grand remaining evening earlier than however we predict that Sunday is our desire and we actually wish to maximise the varsity vacation interval.
“So trying to get as many games in that early October window was a real preference for us. So starting as quickly as we can after the AFL grand final was our priority.”
Captain Meg Lanning mentioned having the sport on the weekend “makes a lot of sense” whereas fellow stalwart Jess Jonassen was optimistic concerning the Sunday afternoon timeslot.
“The benefit for us is we’ve got an afternoon fixture and the NRL (grand) final is at night, so hopefully people go from our game straight over to there,” Jonassen mentioned.
“Even better if no New South Wales teams make the NRL (grand) final it’s an all-Queensland derby.
“The cricket schedule is jam-packed and there is at all times going to be difficult instances that you must play whereas making an attempt to stability the very best alternative for publicity for all video games.
“Whenever we get to play is a really awesome opportunity. I appreciate the AFL grand final is the day before, so hopefully we leverage off that as well.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
