The Brisbane Cricket Ground, the Gabba, "has a fight on its hands to maintain its status as the venue for the first Test of every summer," according to the AAP. Cricket Australia High Performance Dir Pat Howard said that as rival states continue to plough money into stadium redevelopments or entirely new facilities, Brisbane "risks being left behind without fresh investment." Despite "one of the best and most iconic pitches in world cricket and the Australian team's 25-year unbeaten record there, the Gabba will soon slip to arguably the fifth-best Test venue in the country following the announcement of a new 60,000-seat stadium in Perth to be completed in 2018." Howard said "competition" between venues has heated up and that the Gabba must match the pace. Howard: "There has been growth in the stadiums around the country. Making sure that Brisbane and Queensland stay competitive in this space is pretty important." Gabba Venue Manager Blair Conaghan said the stadium was about to start a "master planning exercise" which will map out what needs to be spent and where in the coming years. He said, "This will take a long-term view of how the venue associates with development in the wider precinct" (AAP, 9/18).
