The Australian Football League will open the '16 season over the Easter long weekend at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after all, "with Richmond to play host to Carlton on Thursday, March 24," according to Caroline Wilson of THE AGE. Cricket Australia on Thursday "gave football the green light to fixture its now traditional MCG Easter blockbusters over the weekend of the Sheffield Shield final." CA CEO James Sutherland "returned to Melbourne following the Lord's Test" and immediately delivered that message to AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan. The "green light was given in the understanding of a pending long term agreement which would allow the AFL permanent access to the MCG each year for an extra weekend in March." The deal "is yet to be reached but will involve a multimillion dollar financial settlement between the AFL and Cricket Australia." A tripartite agreement between the AFL, the MCC and CA "will ensure football wins long-term tenancy of the MCG for the last two weekends of March from 2016." Sutherland said "good constructive conversations with the MCC and the AFL" had removed any doubt over the 2016 Easter season launch and that cricket would not stand in the way of the AFL season-opener. While cricket has been prepared to sell off its contractual hold on the MCG for the last two weekends of March, the AFL and the MCG "has to date resisted a financial settlement." Cricket is facing a A$5M ($3.6M) shortfall for the Junction Oval redevelopment "which will see Cricket Victoria based at a new state-of-the art training and playing facility" (THE AGE, 7/23).
GOING PINK? In Canberra, Lee Gaskin wrote CA "is considering using a pink ball for the first time in the Prime Minister's XI game to assist New Zealand ahead of the historic day-night Test match." The PM's XI game "will be moved to earlier in the summer with World Cup runners-up New Zealand the likely opponents," but a date has not been locked in. The "most intriguing fixture is the Test match under lights at the Adelaide Oval on November 27." CA acting CEO Mike McKenna said that "there was a chance the pink Kookaburra ball would be used in the PM's XI game" (CANBERRA TIMES, 7/23).
