Cricket Victoria will "only consider sharing the Junction Oval" with Australian Football League side St. Kilda if the summer sport is the "main tenant with year-round, priority access to the historic ground," according to Chloe Saltau of THE AGE. CV CEO Tony Dodemaide has held "high-level talks" with AFL Deputy CEO Gillon McLachlan about a "possible partnership with the Saints at a redeveloped Junction Oval but is yet to discuss the concept with the state government." He said that the idea was "very much in its infancy." The proposed joint venture involves cricket using the "refurbished main oval while St. Kilda would train on the community ground across the road, connected by a tunnel, similar to Gosch's Paddock in the Olympic Park precinct." Among cricket's "concerns is the cost of the project, which Dodemaide expects would rise" if St. Kilda moved its training base from Seaford to the Junction Oval, "and the source of funding." The state government has pledged A$10M ($9.4M) if it is matched by PM Tony Abbott's government but the "message from Canberra is that federal money is unlikely to come from existing channels." Cricket, which also needs a base for its "elite women's program, needs to be convinced that it is realistic to share gyms, recovery facilities and administrative space" (THE AGE, 4/10).
