Big Bash League Side Sydney Thunder Looking To Bring League To Canberra

Big Bash League side Sydney Thunder is "looking into bringing Big Bash League games to Canberra," according to Lee Gaskin of the CANBERRA TIMES. In an arrangement similar to the one Australian Football League side Greater Western Sydney has with the national capital, the Thunder "would move a Twenty20 fixture from the vast expanses of ANZ Stadium to a revamped Manuka Oval." The "earliest the switch would take place" is '14-15. State cricket governing body Cricket ACT's long-term goal is to "have its own team in the national Twenty20 competition, but admits that is unlikely until the end of the new broadcast deal." Cricket ACT Chair Ian McNamee believed "hosting the Thunder would be the first step in Canberra eventually getting its own team in the Big Bash League." McNamee said, "That [expansion] has been put on hold, 12 months ago it was a distinct possibility, at the moment it's in limbo" (CANBERRA TIMES, 9/6).