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Queensland Cricket’s vision for a new stadium at Allan Border Field would have 10,000 permanent seats.Credit:Queensland Cricket

In anopen letter released last week,Queensland Cricket chairman Chris Simpson and chief executive Terry Svenson made the case for a boutique stadium to host matches in Brisbane while the Gabba was unavailable.

“[W]e face the real prospect of losing important Test and BBL cricket matches from Queensland to interstate venues during the pre-Olympic displacement from the Gabba and hold a reasonable fear that a suitable solution to enable continuity of matches in Brisbane may not meet our needs or expectations,” they wrote.

“...We are preparing ourselves for a worst-case scenario where cricket could face the loss of access to the Gabba for potentially greater than seven years during the period of demolition,construction and post-Games return.”

Hence their public demands for an Allan Border Field redevelopment before the bulldozers move in at Woolloongabba. It would be,they argue,the “most efficient,cost-effective,and timely option” for the sport.

The new cricket stadium would be part of the Albion Olympic precinct.Credit:Queensland Cricket

Their vision for the Albion site (a stone’s throw from theoriginally envisaged site of Brisbane’s main Olympic stadium) included new grandstands with permanent seating for 10,000.

It’s a great vision and I could certainly see myself enjoying a day at the cricket in such a cozy location – even if the venue’s old-school charm would be irreparably lost – but the question must be asked of cricket officials:isn’t $2.7 billion enough?

The Gabba will be an incredible legacy for what is,at the time of writing at least,not even an Olympic sport. Surely,a few years of inconvenience will be worth that reward.

Cricket has options in Queensland,with first-class facilities on the Gold Coast and in Mackay,Townsville and Cairns. A Test/BBL roadshow,anyone?

Cricket’s Gabba co-tenants,the Brisbane Lions,are considering their options for their homeless seasons:a slightly modifiedQSAC is an early frontrunner and the RNA Showground a wildcard.

With abrand spanking new $80 million stadium at Springfield,perhaps the Lions know better than to put their hands out for more.

The ribbon is cut at the Lions’ Brighton Homes Arena,which opened in November.Credit:Russell Freeman/Getty

Simpson and Svenson are well within their rights to put their cap out for more money. They can’t be blamed for wanting the best for their sport – it’s quite literally their job,after all.

And cricket isn’t alone in pushing its barrow for new and/or improved facilities. This being Queensland,rugby league (which,it must be noted,is also not an Olympic sport) also wants its slice of the action.

In a submission to a Senate inquiry into the Olympic and Commonwealth games (RIP),the NRL urged a major revamp of Suncorp Stadium and rugby league centres of excellence that could be “utilised as high-performance training facilities for Olympic soccer and/or rugby teams” as if those sports’ facilities did not require improvement themselves.

Indeed,Football Australia andhockey administrators – Olympic sports both – have been frustrated at the lack of legacy planning for their sports.

And then there’s the myriad “minor” sports – those athletic endeavours of which we all become expert every four years – that continue to run off the smell of an oily rag.

When the biggest multi-sport event in the world comes to your doorstep,it’s only natural that sports administrators will jockey to get what they can. They would be pretty bad at their jobs if they didn’t.

But the sports that already have the ear of government,and wield disproportionate political clout,should not be given a leg-up to dictate our Olympic legacy.

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