AFL joins funding pledge but hurdles remain for Victorian cricket
Junction Oval at the crossroads
The Australian Football League has pledged $10 million for the redevelopment of Junction Oval in St Kilda, bringing a proposed relocation of domestic cricket away from the Melbourne Cricket Ground a step closer to reality.
Cricket Victoria (CV) had already earmarked $6m, with a further $4m promised from Cricket Australia's (CA) coffers in the first half of 2013. The AFL's pledge, announced in Fairfax media today, matches the joint CV-CA contribution, with another $10m promised by the Victorian government, that changes the scale of the project to a multi-sport redevelopment that would see the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers sharing elite-level facilities with the St Kilda Australian rules football club.
However, the project still has a multi-million dollar funding shortfall, which proponents hope will be made up by a combination of federal government and corporate sector contributions.
The project would see the creation of the Victorian Cricket and Community Centre, a purpose-built facility that would consolidate CV's administration, development and training functions into a single location.
As well as state-of-the-art gym, nets and training facilities, the development would also house the National Centre for Diversity through Cricket, which has been designed to promote social inclusion and harmony in the community through cricket.
Victoria’s oldest cricket club, St Kilda Cricket Club, would continue to play at the upgraded Junction Oval. The historic Blackie-Ironmonger and Kevin Murray stands would be restored to create a boutique venue with capacity for 7,000 spectators to watch the Bushrangers and VicSpirit women's matches, including the Sheffield Shield Final should Victoria earn hosting rights.
Victoria would become the first state to permanently play first-class cricket away from a recognised Test venue, and would leave the MCG without any first-class cricket on its drop-in pitches prior to the traditional Boxing Day Test.
This season the MCG will host one one-day international, one Twenty20 international and one KFC T20 Big Bash League fixture, as well as two Shield matches, before the third Test against India.
In recent times, the limited-overs component of the international summer schedule has been played after Test matches.
This season the NSW Blues will take two of its five Shield matches to Wagga Wagga and Newcastle, while the West End Redbacks will return to Gilderol Stadium in Glenelg. The Bushrangers have yet to announce the venue for three Shield matches in February and March next year, when the MCG will be busy hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup.
The AFL's interest in the Junction Oval project is two-fold: it returns the struggling St Kilda club to its heartland having moved away in 1964, and it would free up the MCG to host more Australian rules matches earlier in the year.
The absence of first-class cricket and a removal of the existing agreement that reserves the MCG for the possibility of hosting the Sheffield Shield Final also frees the venue to host concerts or other major events.
Australia’s premier cricket stadium would see less than three weeks of cricket per year, with CA’s domestic 50-over competition, the Matador’s BBQ One-Day Cup being played in tournament-style fashion at venues in NSW and Queensland, and 20 days of Shield cricket lost to Junction Oval.
Should funding and bureaucratic hurdles be overcome, the development could be completed as soon as the 2016-17 summer season.
The previous Labor federal government had promised $10m towards the project in August last year (see video below) when CA and CV detailed plans for the Victorian Cricket and Community Centre, but that money has not been confirmed by Tony Abbott's Liberal government.
CA chief executive officer James Sutherland highlighted the importance of the community aspect of the proposed plans at the August 2013 unveiling.
"The temptation is to look at this as just an elite facility, but it's a lot more than that," Sutherland said at the time.
"Really it goes to the heart of our vision of being a sport for all Australians. If there are opportunities that we can create for people from diverse backgrounds and people with disabilities, that's exactly what we want to do."
In a statement released by CV on Sunday, chief executive officer Tony Dodemaide says there is still a long way to go with a number of obstacles still to overcome, the biggest being the funding gap.
"We note the story regarding the potential codevelopment at the Junction Oval in The Age yesterday and in particular, AFL’s new public commitment of $10 million, which is welcomed," Dodemaide said.
"At the same time, there is still a long way to go to work through the numerous issues that remain to determine if the football/cricket codevelopment model is viable.
"The most significant issues to be resolved include the project cost and the current funding gap.
"Official estimates of the amended scope, including the additional football related requirements, range from $59 to $74 million depending on a number of significant factors.
"The AFL’s new commitment of $10 million, combined with cricket’s initial pledge of $10 million and the State Government’s conditional commitment of a further $10 million, provides $30 million so far.
"This means the funding gap is somewhere between $29 to $44 million, not $15 million as reported yesterday.
"We are also very conscious that a range of stakeholders, particular in the area local to Albert Park, need to be consulted about the codevelopment alternative and its possible impacts.
"The previous version, based on a cricket centre with a number of community facilities, was designed in extensive consultation with Parks Victoria and local stakeholders and enjoyed wide support.
"We understand that ongoing support cannot be assumed, given the significant variations outlined by the AFL yesterday, and should be subject to further consultation.
"Cricket Victoria remains committed to finding a solution to satisfy the urgent needs of our sport in this state and we remain willing to explore all options and potential partnerships to achieve that objective."