Essex CEO Derek Bowden Wants Club To Play Twenty20 Cricket At Olympic Stadium

Essex County Cricket Club CEO Derek Bowden has said that "the club are keen to play Twenty20 fixtures" at London's Olympic Stadium, according to the BBC. EPL West Ham "will be the main tenants of the venue" from '16. But the Chelmsford-based club "are eager to discuss the possibility of hosting T20 games at the Stratford arena." Bowden: "We regularly sell out at Chelmsford. We'll sell 7,000 for a Twenty20 game on a Friday night. There's an opportunity to take cricket down to East London." The decision over whether to allow cricket to be played at the venue "is likely to lie with the London Legacy Development Corporation." There "are also plans to host rugby matches" at the London '12 site, with the Rugby World Cup in '15 an aim. A LLDC spokesperson said, "The Stadium will become a multi-use venue so we are open to additional uses including cricket provided they can fit alongside other concessionaires such as West Ham United and UK Athletics" (BBC, 4/5).