Rare soil used to preserve iconic quality of Adelaide Oval following re-development

The turf manager at the revamped Adelaide Oval stadium has said that the rare soil used by ground keepers in Adelaide's old former permanent pitches will retain the characteristics of the exalted ground, ahead of the Adelaide's Ashes Test in December.

Curator Darren Hough is the man charged with meeting the expectations tied to the redeveloped, 50,000 capacity stadium at Adelaide, where eight drop-in pitches crucial to the functioning of a 535 million-dollar multi-purpose stadium is being installed with the demands of AFL football and events needed to spike stadium profits.

According to News.com.au, Hough and arena manager David Egan have come under scrutiny from Oval lovers lamenting how cricket's most beautiful venue was bulldozed and its revered pitch dug up in the name of progress.

However, Hough, who works 12 hour days to honour 130 years of Oval tradition, said that even though the world famous vista is gone forever, the 33-year-old Athelstone soil will retain the characteristics of the old, iconic ground, adding that they want to deliver a faultless ground which the public can experience and enjoy.

According to Hough, they had treated the soil to get the ground back as possible to the old Oval, adding that they were lucky that they had carefully stored the soil 30 years ago and preserved its old and rare quality.

The report added that a tailor-made, 400,000 dollar-worth pitch transporter is the key to combining cricket and football at the venue, avoiding the centre ground mud-piles that plagued elite football when the codes last shared Adelaide Oval 40 years ago.