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Waugh supports Olympic venue for cricket

SYDNEY, Feb 3 AAP - Steve Waugh today supported the suggestion one-day internationals could be played at Sydney's major Olympic venue after unveiling the pitch for cricket's first game at Telstra Stadium

Adrian Warren
03-Feb-2003
SYDNEY, Feb 3 AAP - Steve Waugh today supported the suggestion one-day internationals could be played at Sydney's major Olympic venue after unveiling the pitch for cricket's first game at Telstra Stadium.
Both NSW captain Waugh and Blues paceman Stuart Clark suggested the manufactured pitch would produce plenty of runs for the ING Cup clash with South Australia on Sunday week.
Although a renowned cricketing traditionalist, Waugh had no objections to one-day internationals being played at Telstra Stadium rather than the SCG.
He said one-day matches didn't have the same tradition as Tests where the established venues were concerned and therefore couldn't see any reason why they shouldn't be moved to other grounds.
"It's a great venue, players want to play at the best possible venues and this looks fantastic," Waugh said from the middle of Telstra Stadium today.
"They want to play in front of big crowds, so if it fits the bill, then why not?" said Waugh, who watched Olympic events at the stadium in 2000.
NSW Cricket Association chief executive officer and former Australian representative David Gilbert suggested it was common sense to play some one-day internationals because its capacity was almost twice of the SCG.
However, the Australian Cricket Board is contracted to playing one-day internationals at the SCG for the next couple of seasons.
Waugh said the dimensions of Telstra Stadium reminded him of Adelaide Oval and said he thought the Olympic arena would be "one of the great venues to play cricket".
The centre wicket developed by Strathayr Turf Systems weighs approximately 32 tonnes with the pitch containing the same Oberon Creek soil used in most Sydney pitches, including the SCG.
"The pitch looks good. It's nice and flat, that's the main thing with one-day cricket," Waugh said.
"It's obviously a while to go before the match, but I think if they roll it and get a bit of hardness, there should be plenty of runs there."
Waugh described the outfield as "fantastic" and said the first game at the venue would be "a great experience for all the players, it's something we will never forget."
Already used to playing on drop-in pitches in international cricket, especially in Melbourne, Waugh had no reservations about such wickets and didn't approach them any differently to standard strips.
"In some ways you are almost guaranteed a good quality pitch because they are looked after and have been worked on for a long while and all they've got to do is drop it on, so there's no problem at all from a playing point of view."