South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas blasts Cricket Australia’s ‘disgraceful’ move: ‘It’s a kick in the guts’
- The state leader is furious with the administrative body
- Believes that his state has been treated with contempt
- Adelaide will host a test match from January 17 to 21
Furious South Australian Prime Minister Peter Mailnauskas has accused Cricket Australia of dealing his state a slap in the face with its “disgraceful” decision to allow the West Indies to play in the Adelaide Oval Test next month.
Malinauskas' problem with the summer schedule is twofold: he wanted his hometown to host Pakistan instead of the low-ranked Caribbean country, and rails against the Test starting on Wednesday instead of later in the week, believing that both decisions will result in shocking crowd.
“Cricket Australia has really kicked our ass by giving us [the] West Indies two years in a row, with the Test starting on a Wednesday and priority given to Perth. Look how that turned out for them,” he said, referring to the poor crowd at Optus Stadium for the first test of the summer.
Malinauskas (pictured) pulled no punches when he hit out at Cricket Australia for giving his state a 'slap in the face'
Pat Cummins (pictured) and his team are hugely popular, but the Prime Minister is not a fan of the opponents they have lined up for the Adelaide Oval Test in January
'The fact that we are getting the West Indies two summers in a row is quite frankly disgraceful…Cricket Australia has reaped what they sowed by showing contempt to South Australian cricket goers with the results of the crowd they had in Perth.
“But the second thing is that the Adelaide Test starts on Wednesday. It's a complete shame,” he said News Corp.
The Prime Minister says starting the match against the Windies on Wednesday will mean fans will have to take time off work to attend, which will prove too expensive for many when combined with the cost of tickets.
This will be the second summer in a row that lowly West Indies (pictured at Adelaide Oval in December 2022) will play in the South Australian Test
Malinauskas pointed to the sad crowd for the Perth Test against Pakistan (pictured) as he slammed Cricket Australia for treating South Australian fans with contempt
West Indies are the eighth-ranked Test side in the world, above only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and there are doubts about their ability to attract crowds during their tour of Australia.
To make matters worse, the Windies will field their weakest ever team on Australian soil after most of their best players opted out of the trip down under as they chase the money on offer in T20 cricket.
The attendance for the Pakistan Test in Perth was shocking, with only around 3,000 people in attendance as Nathan Lyon made history by taking his 500th wicket.
That led many cricket analysts to question the future of the longest and most traditional form of the game.
The crowds increased significantly for the Boxing Day Test, but form suggests the Windies will not be nearly as stern a test for Australia as the Pakistan side.
Cricket Australia responded to the Prime Minister's outburst on Thursday.
“We were pleased with the record attendance for a Test against Pakistan in Perth and we are confident that South Australians will come in large numbers to watch the Australian ICC World Test Champion team take on the West Indies,” said a statement from the governing body. read.