Sydney Beats Out Adelaide To Host Int'l Cricket On Australia Day

Sydney has won the rights to host int'l cricket on Australia Day this summer - "and those behind the scheduling coup are keen to make it permanent," according to Chris Barrett of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Cricket Australia has not yet announced the int'l schedule for '12-13, but "Australia are pencilled in to play a Twenty20 int'l against Sri Lanka at ANZ Stadium on Jan. 26." For the past decade "the date has been the domain of the Adelaide Oval." However, Adelaide is to be stripped of its ''ownership'' of the tradition. Its reduced capacity, at fewer than 20,000 due to redevelopment, "plays against the ground's chances of retaining it." Instead, Cricket Australia "plans to hand the showpiece occasion" to Sydney Olympic Park, which can hold 80,200 for cricket matches (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 6/22).