Cricket Tasmania could sell one of its seven Hurricanes home matches to a hungry overseas market.
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The Examiner can reveal that the club is exploring auctioning off a fixture for big money should the expanded Big Bash League home and away season prove too much for Tasmanians spectators.
On the same day the state’s most successful cricket coach Tim Coyle was named to guide the Greater Norther Raiders’ inaugural foray into the Hobart-based Cricket Tasmania Premier League, CT chief executive Nick Cummins said a Hurricanes home match on foreign soil was a possibility.
“It’s definitely an option we will look at and we’ve had a little bit of interest this year [but] it’s not something we are going to do this summer,” he said.
Launceston’s UTAS Stadium will host two men’s matches for the first time and Bellerive Oval will see the men in purple on five occasions.
However, Cummins said if seven matches prove to be a saturation for Tasmanians, a Hurricanes home match could be played out in Asia, the Middle East or New Zealand – pending Cricket Australia approval.
“It’s about striking a balance between making money and also having content for our fans in the state.
“Big Bash’s role is to provide a viable pathway to boys and girls to inspire them to play cricket and playing a game overseas doesn’t necessarily do that.
“But at the same time if it’s going to generate revenue for the cricket association which we can then put back into local cricket, then it’s something we will definitely consider.
“We haven’t formally spoken to anyone but logically Asia and the middle East are the two obvious markets – Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and even New Zealand and UAE.
“We haven’t gone into any great detail.”
It will not be a simple case of Cricket Tasmania going rogue, Cummins said the national governing body would need to be involved in any partnership.
Cummins said the concept was a mixture of cricket in Tasmania being under-funded by government comparatively with sports like football and understanding the state’s appetite for content.
“As we go into a full home and away season of 14 men’s games we have to think about the impacts that could have on that market,” he said.
“Are we going to be able to sell out seven games? Is five games in Hobart too many?
“Is two games in Launceston too many? We will find out by the way the fans responds this summer.
“If we are selling out all our games in Tasmania, then I don’t think it will be something we will consider.
“But if we are given an awkward fixture at an awkward part of the day, which doesn’t suit our fans, we will.”
Cummins said this season’s BBL and WBBL fixtures are expected to be released publicly in a fortnight’s time.
“They are just about locked in but there are often changes at the 11th hour,” he said.
An announcement on which North-West venue will host a WBBL fixture is forecast this week.
The Hurricanes have confirmed they will take part in a six-team Twenty20 Abu Dhabi tournament in October with the winner to take home $US150,000.
The three-day competition clashes with the Tasmanian Tigers’ one-day cup commitments so a second-XI squad of fringe players will likely take to the field against sides such as a local all-star XI, England’s Yorkshire Vikings, Afghanistan’s Boost Defenders, South Africa’s Multiply Titans and Pakistan’s Lahore Qalandars.
Cummins said the BBL would however remain the Hurricanes’ priority.
Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
