Adelaide Oval Test Cricket

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:54): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment a question about tourism and test cricket.

Leave granted.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. C. BONAROS: I am out of my league! SACA CEO, Keith Bradshaw, has stated that there is a real chance that Adelaide Oval could miss out during India's test match tour of Australia next year. This is despite Adelaide Oval having the second highest attendance test match record for the country, just behind Melbourne. For the record, it was the second Ashes Test on 2 December 2017 at Adelaide Oval, with a record 55,317 cricket fans in attendance.

India's test match tour of Australia is second only in popularity behind the iconic Ashes series. India has committed to only four tests against Australia, so one of the major venues will lose out and there is a real risk that it will be the iconic Adelaide Oval. SACA, with 25,000 members and 10,000 associate passholders, is working very hard to make sure Adelaide Oval does not lose out.

Given that test cricket is (apparently) the pinnacle of the game, which deserves to be played on the best grounds before the biggest crowds, and Adelaide Oval is universally regarded as one of the best cricket grounds in the world, my question to the minister is: given the significant tourism impacts at stake, what is the Marshall Liberal government doing to guarantee that Adelaide Oval plays host to one of the four test matches between Australia and India and to ensure that South Australia's legion of cricket fans, and tourists who would otherwise attend, don't lose out? Will the minister undertake to raise this issue with the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing and update this chamber accordingly?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for her question and, clearly, her great interest in the wonderful sport of cricket. It is interesting, Adelaide Oval is a spectacular venue. Even before the redevelopment by the former government, it was regarded as one of the world's great cricket ovals. Sir Donald Bradman played there and many other great cricketers have played there.

Of course, in the last series India played here only last year, they were not prepared to play a day-night test here. Pakistan starts tomorrow in a day-night test match, but I think the Indian batsmen were fearful of how the pink ball may move around in the twilight and the evening. People like Virat Kohli and some of the other champions in the Indian team were fearful of damaging their averages if the ball moved around a little bit in the evening, so they didn't want to play a day-night test.

When we had the Cricket World Cup here, the former government pitched to host the India v Pakistan match here, for all the reasons that we would have a significant broadcast back into India and Pakistan and a significant opportunity for visitation and tourists to come into South Australia to experience the cricket but then also stay here and spend some money in the rest of the state. Last year, with the India test match, we had an inbound trade mission.

We had a large number—I don't recall the exact number, but I think it was around 30 Indian businesses that we asked to come in and have a look at opportunities for doing business with South Australia. So it is not just the cricket. The honourable member talked about tourists and visitations, but it is also the business engagement. Clearly, for countries like India, New Zealand, England and, probably to a lesser degree, some of the other countries, there are some significant business opportunities for us to explore.

So we are in constant discussion with SACA around the opportunities that this will present. It really is a matter for Cricket Australia to make that call, so we will be joining with SACA to make sure we put our best foot forward. I will, if it pleases the honourable member, speak to the Hon. Corey Wingard, my good friend and Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, and Minister for Police and Correctional Services. I am very happy, if the member would like me to speak with him, to bring back some sort of update.

I can assure the honourable member that we will be doing everything we can to try to make sure that we have as many test matches as possible here, but it really is very much a matter for Cricket Australia. They control the agenda and the scheduling. We all know that the Adelaide Oval is a spectacular facility, whether it's a day-night test or a normal conventional day test, so we will be, hopefully, getting a good outcome and having India playing here next year.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, the Hon. Ms Bonaros.