South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas says his state will no longer be taken for granted by Cricket Australia, firmly registering his interest in hosting the New Year's Test.
Reports surfaced in January that the South Australian Cricket Association had floated the idea of poaching the iconic game from Sydney after yet another rain-affected staging.
The third Test between Australia and South Africa ended in a draw after several sessions were lost to rain, an occurrence that has proved all too frequent at the SCG in years gone by.
But Malinauskis says the idea is more about his own state refusing to cop subpar fixtures.
“It all started because the SACA came to me and said, 'look, we're a bit concerned that quite frankly Cricket Australia has been taking the Adelaide Oval Test for granted',” Malinauskis told SEN SA Breakfast.
“I think there's a lot of truth to that. I don't say that to be critical of CA, but I think we have to put our hand up and say, 'hang on, we had the West Indies this year when the main Test tour was South Africa', and there's a lot of talk around the place - and to be frank a bit more than talk - about Adelaide faces the prospect of its Test again in the upcoming summer being West Indies again.
“So we would have West Indies twice in two years, which I think is a bit stiff, to say the least.”
The Adelaide Oval typically hosts a Test in November or December and has only hosted two January Tests this century. As was more exacerbated this Test summer, cricket crowds typically take months to grow to expected numbers over the season.
Over 24,000 fans still turned up over each of the opening three days of Australia's romping win against the West Indies, which, as Malinauskis notes, was far better than what can be said for Optus Stadium.
Just over 40,000 attended the Perth Test across five days, with Malinauskis declaring his crowds are the best in the country.
“The fact of the matter is on a per capita basis the Adelaide Test is the best attended in the country, by a long way,” Malinauskis continued.
“Because of that, because we turn out the crowds year in and year out, CA are inclined to say, 'we're gong to get a big crowd in Adelaide anyway, so we won't give them the prized fixture'. If you look at the turnout in the Perth Test, it was an embarrassment.”
Adelaide appears likely to host the West Indies once again in the upcoming summer, a series that will take place in January and February of 2024.
A three-Test series against Pakistan is the primary feature of the upcoming summer.
“So I say you can't take us for granted, we want more certainty. The SACA put on the table to me that they were interested in potentially putting their hands up for the New Year's Test and asked if the (state) government would be willing to support it,” Malinauskis continued.
“We went away and did a bit of work on the back of that request and it was pretty clear there would be additional visitation if we had at least a fixed time for the Test, a public holiday or a high peak summer period and we get a few more bums on seats coming from interstate, which is what I care about.”
But in a now infamous press conference, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet responded to South Australia's attempts with a viscious roast.
“A five-day washed out Test in Sydney is much better than a five-day Test in Adelaide because at the end of it you’ve spent five days in Adelaide,” Perrottet stated.
Malinauskis described the sledge as a “cheap shot”, but said it won't hinder South Australia's bid.
“I said I was willing to support it, then one thing led to another and before I knew it the NSW premier was having a cheap shot and the whole thing got elevated”, he laughed.
“We'll put our best foot forward and see what comes out of it.”