Optus Stadium will host the One Day International cricket match between Australia and England on Sunday January 28, 2018 – in what is expected to be the highest-attended sporting match in Western Australian history.
The match will be the first official sporting event to be held at Optus Stadium, about two months ahead of the original target opening date of the start of the 2018 AFL season.
The One Day International match will be the first of many cricket events held at Optus Stadium with the WA Government, Cricket Australia and the WACA agreeing that all Test matches and limited overs matches featuring England, South Africa and India – plus Big Bash League Twenty20 matches – will be played at the venue from 2018.
Remaining Perth international and domestic cricket fixtures will be played at the WACA Ground.
Optus Stadium incorporates a range of state-of-the-art cricket features including five drop-in cricket wickets, four indoor warm up wickets, 16 outdoor turf practice wickets and two dedicated player viewing rooms with direct access to both the change rooms and the playing surface.
In 2016, a prototype drop-in cricket wicket was constructed with the same soil profile as the WACA Ground wicket and tested under match conditions. Following a successful testing phase an additional four wickets were developed, which aim to replicate the character of the WACA Ground wicket.
Cricket Australia requires ‘clean venues’ for all international cricket matches – meaning the stadium will be referred to as ‘Perth Stadium’ in all match-related coverage.
Tickets to the match will be available to the public via http://www.cricket.com.au from Friday, November 24.