Perth Stadium gets ICC green light to host cricket matches

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved the Perth Stadium as a venue fit to host all international cricket formats, Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Thursday.

The Perth stadium will become the 12th venue in Australia to hold accreditation to host international cricket content and is all set to host the fifth and final One-day International between Australia and England on January 28.

ICC Match Referee, Richie Richardson, completed the venue inspection and submitted a glowing report on the stadium.

"This is by far the most impressive and well laid out stadium I have ever visited. The comprehensive amenities, along with the quality and functionality of the facility, surpasses the required standard to host any international cricket match," Richardson said in a statement.

"The layout of the stadium provides convenient easement within and around the facility and it is located within close proximity of the city center.

"The new Perth Stadium is a wonderful, refreshing, world class stadium, and I have no hesitation in recommending that the venue is approved for staging all three formats of international cricket," Richardson concluded.

Cricket will be the opening sporting event at the Stadium, with the ODI providing an incredible opportunity for cricket fans in Western Australia, and the broader national and international cricket community, to experience the game at its very best in Perth's new state-of-the-art stadium.

CA CEO James Sutherland said: "It is not only very exciting for Cricket to host the first major sporting event at Optus Stadium, but it is also a huge honour. An historic event, a capacity crowd, a state of the art stadium and an Australia-England fixture - what more could a cricket fan want for?"

"The stadium is a magnificent asset for the state of WA and its sports fans. We very much look forward to bringing this big Australia-England One-Day match to Perth to the Stadium on January 28," he added.

--IANS

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