BBL double delight could lead to Manuka mega-deal
Manuka Oval is set to host not one, but two Sydney Thunder Big Bash League games as Canberra's super summer of cricket just keeps getting bigger.
The cricket ball is in the ACT government's court with the Thunder keen to not only play a BBL and WBBL double header at the iconic ground on December 21, but also host another BBL clash there just days after the historic first Test match.
Fairfax Media revealed the Thunder were set to play a double header at Manuka on the eve of Christmas holidays, with their women to play the Hobart Hurricanes and the men to play the Melbourne Stars.
Now Fairfax Media can also reveal the Thunder want to play a second BBL game in Canberra against the Hurricanes on February 9.
Discussions are ongoing between the relevant parties, with the deal hopefully finalised in the next few weeks.
It would mean a bumper summer of cricket that also included the Test, a women's Twenty20 international, the Prime Minister's XI, a Sheffield Shield game and the Women's National Cricket League.
Thunder general manager Lee Germon said the only issue could be ground availability with the February date potentially infringing on the AFL's use of the oval.
The AFL's pre-season competition normally begins mid-to-late February, although any GWS Giants' trial could always be scheduled in its third week.
"We'd ideally like to bring two games to Canberra ... but we're still in the middle of discussions with the government," Germon told Fairfax Media.
"We initially spoke to government about the possibility of bringing the double header on December 21 and then the last match of our round-robin on February 9 to Manuka Oval.
"We'd love to do that, we're just waiting for the government to come back to us to see what might be possible."
The government, Cricket Australia and the Thunder have also begun discussions on an all-encompassing, multi-year mega-deal to lock in Canberra's cricketing future.
Australia's first ever Test match at Manuka, starting against Sri Lanka on February 1, will mark the end of the government's current arrangement with Cricket Australia.
A four-year deal was signed in 2015 to ensure the ACT had elite cricket content every summer, albeit with a short intermission during the Ashes last summer.
It's hoped the next deal, expected to be of a similar length, would also include women's international fixtures as well as BBL and WBBL games.
"We decided we'd talk to [the Thunder] about another one-off arrangement this year and then look at it as part of the broader longer-term deal with Cricket Australia rather than having two [separate deals]," a government spokesman said.
"We wanted a more holistic agreement rather than being one-off constantly. Let's look at it all at once. PM's XI, one-day, possible Tests, but Big Bash as well ... it's a bit piecemeal at the moment."
More to come.
CANBERRA'S SUMMER OF CRICKET
BBL: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars, December 21; Sydney Thunder v Hobart Hurricanes, February 9.
WBBL: Sydney Thunder v Hobart Hurricanes, December 21.
Test: Australia v Sri Lanka, February 1-5.
Women’s Twenty20 International: Australia v New Zealand, October 5.
Prime Ministers XI: Australia v South Africa, October 31.
Sheffield Shield: NSW BLues v Queensland Bulls, November 16-19.
WNCL: ACT Meteors v Victoria, November 9; ACT Meteors v WA, November 11.