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AUSTRALIA IN QUEENSLAND
GABBA CROWD LIMIT COULD BE TESTED IN 2008-09
4
Queensland Cricket has set
its sights on a potential
ground record when the
Gabba hosts only the second
International Twenty20
match in its history this
summer.
Cricket Australia recently
announced the 2008-09 international
cricket program,
with the Gabba
scheduled to host one of
three KFC Twenty20 Internationals
this season.
Australia will take on South
Africa in the three-hour
match on the evening of
Tuesday January 13.
The second highest crowd
since the Brisbane Cricket
Ground was redeveloped
was achieved in 2006 in
the inaugural Twenty20
match between Australia
and South Africa when
38,894 fans packed into
the Gabba to set a record
attendance mark. This was
broken a week later when
the single day ground record
of 39,874 was set in
the One Day International
between Australia and
South Africa. Queensland
Cricket Chief Executive Officer
Graham Dixon said a
record crowd was not out
of the question.
“With the popularity of
Twenty20 booming around
the world, there is every
chance we could really test
the ground’s capacity for a
match like this,’’ he said.
“It would be great to think
we might be able to reach
40,000 for this game considering
the current record
is only about 130 people
off that mark.”
“Obviously we need a few
factors to go our way and it
is still a long way off, but it
is very exciting for Queensland
to host a Twenty20
International again. Queensland’s
local heroes like
Andrew Symonds and Matthew
Hayden have starred
in this format recently and
it shapes as a fantastic
GABBA INTERNATIONALS
First 3 mobile Test
Australia v New Zealand
Thurs 20 - Mon 24 Nov 2008
KFC Twenty20 International
Australia v South Africa
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Commonwealth Bank Series
Australia v New Zealand
Friday 13 February 2009
clash between Australia
and the Proteas,’’ Dixon
said. “The Gabba Test
match will again start the
summer of international
matches and with the recent
research showing that
south-east Queensland has
a increasingly large population
of people who have
moved here from New Zealand,
we think the Test and
the One Dayer against the
Black Caps should see
some keen support for the
visiting team,” he said.
As forecast, the Tri-Series
format has been discontinued
for the coming season,
with the Gabba hosting
New Zealand in the Commonwealth
Bank Chappell-
Hadlee Trophy One Day International
in a day/nighter
on Friday February 13.
Australia will play two
separate five-match Commonwealth
Bank Series,
the first against world
number one-ranked South
Africa throughout January
and the second a traditional
Trans Tasman battle
against New Zealand for
the Chappell Hadlee Trophy
during February.
This will follow five 3 mobile
Test matches, two
against New Zealand in November
and early December
and three against
South Africa in December
and January.
A third KFC Twenty20 International
has been added
to the schedule this season,
with two being played
against South Africa in Melbourne
and Brisbane and a
third scheduled against
New Zealand in Sydney.
The international cricket
summer returns to the traditional
late November
launch and February finish
after global programming
challenges resulted in an
extended season last summer.
The Gabba will host the
traditional opening match
of the international summer,
with the First 3 mobile
Test between Australia
and New Zealand scheduled
for November 20-24.
Tickets to the international
season will go on sale to
the general public on 27
August with priority access
once again available to eligible
members of the Australian
Cricket Family. Tickets
to these matches at the
Gabba will be sold through
Ticketmaster (www.
ticketmaster.com.au).
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