Canberra cricket fans "voted with their feet" that they deserve
int'l games on a regular basis, "earning a glowing review" from
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, according to Lee Gaskin of the CANBERRA TIMES. Less than a
week after the two one-day int'ls in Perth "struggled to put bums
on seats, 10,583 people created a lively atmosphere at Manuka Oval to
see Australia beat South Africa by 73 runs on Wednesday night." While it was not the "sellout crowd that showed up" for last year's Australia vs. West Indies game, officials were "overjoyed with the support for a midweek encounter." Sutherland said the Canberra public had shown an appetite for
int'l cricket over the past two years and that "improvements to
Manuka Oval had helped substantially." Sutherland: "Every city around the
country that has the privilege of hosting international cricket has to
show it's worthy of it. ... There's great evidence of that today and hopefully we'll see that at the World Cup as well." However, he admitted the "diminishing amount of limited-over games on the
schedule in future years would make it difficult for the Australian
team to visit Canberra on an annual basis." Former Australian captain Ian Chappell said the decision on "whether
Canberra would get more games would come down to dollars and cents" (CANBERRA TIMES, 11/19).
