The England & Wales Cricket Board will "trial hybrid artificial pitches" at its national performance center in Loughborough as it looks to "improve the quality of playing surfaces in English cricket. Two new pitches at Loughborough will combine a majority of natural turf grass with around 5% of twisted artificial yarn, "as used in football, to improve stability and prevent pitches breaking up" (London INDEPENDENT, 6/22).
Australian Cricket is seeking government support to realize its vision of an A$18M ($13.6M) National Cricket Campus in Brisbane. The boards of Cricket Australia and Queensland Cricket committed A$4.25M ($3.2M) toward the creation of a national campus (CA).
Super League rugby side Wakefield Trinity's bid to get a new stadium built has "taken a dramatic twist" after the Wakefield Council confirmed developers refused to continue working with the Trust set-up to oversee the project. YorkCourt Properties told council execs that it wants to "work alongside a new Trust formed by leading sporting administrator" Rodney Walker instead. The news is a "bitter blow" to the club and members of the club's "Wakefield and District Community Trust," who have "spent the last seven years campaigning to get the new stadium built at a site on the outskirts of the city" (DAILY STAR, 6/24).
