A decision is expected to be made tomorrow on whether the Sheffield Shield final will be played at the Adelaide Oval. The South Australian means cricket team has won the right to host the five-day event, but it falls in between two AFL games at the venue, prompting concerns that a ‘drop-in-pitch’ could compromise player safety,
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00The Premier celebrating a major football makeover in the Barossa.
00:07The reason why we make this investment isn't just because of Gather Round.
00:11We make this investment so that young people, so that a local community
00:16can have access to a high quality facility forever.
00:20But another sporting ground is also on his mind.
00:23The Premier in talks with the AFL's CEO about whether the Sheffield Shield final
00:28can slot in between two weekends of football at the Adelaide Oval.
00:31If this can be done to the appropriate standard, it should happen.
00:34Because it's not about the AFL, it's not about the cricket, it's about the fans.
00:39South Australia, which will finish top of the Shield ladder,
00:42has won the right to host the final against a yet-to-be-decided rival
00:46in the week starting March 24.
00:48For the Premier and South Australian Cricket Association,
00:51Adelaide Oval is the preferred ground,
00:53but a drop-in turf pitch would need to be installed.
00:56Safety concerns have been raised about where the new replacement turf
00:59would recover in time for the Crows' North Melbourne clash on Sunday, March 30.
01:04A perfect world, wouldn't it be great for sport in SA if we can do that.
01:08Health and safety for us is, I guess, front of mind,
01:13just making sure we can get that right, but there's no venue like it.
01:17The AFL declined to comment, but the Premier says a decision is impending.
01:22This decision just needs to be made one way or another.
01:24It's in the AFL's court and they've agreed that they'll make a decision
01:28one way or another by COB tomorrow.
01:31An ongoing turf war hoping to be resolved soon.