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Australia's 2020 vision for an elite 'campus'

Cricket Australia reveal grand plans for year-round training and playing in Brisbane to keep elite players at top of the world game

Cricket Australia have revealed plans for a new $18m 'National Cricket Campus' in Queensland that would allow for year-round playing and training for the country's elite cricketers.

CA and Queensland Cricket have committed $4.25m to the project, with funding being sought for the balance to realise the project described as a "must-have" by Team Performance supremo Pat Howard.

It is hoped to have the new-and-improved facilities open before Australia hosts the men's and women's ICC World T20 tournament in three years' time.

The project aims to improve and expand on what is already offered at the current Bupa National Cricket Centre, the $29m state of the art centre opened in November 2013 at Queensland Cricket's headquarters at Allan Border Field in the Brisbane suburb of Albion.

Those facilities will be joined by new ones at nearby Kalinga, the current home of Queensland Premier Cricket side Northern Districts, with upgrades to make it suitable to host domestic ODIs, women's internationals, 'A' series games and tour matches for visiting international sides.



Howard, CA's Executive General Manager of Team Performance, said the vision was to create a fully-integrated, world-class indoor and outdoor high performance training facility.

"Advances in our key performance programs demand that our cricketers train more like they play, and as we play the bulk of our cricket outside on turf, accessing world class facilities 365 days a year is a must have rather than a wish," Howard said.

"The National Cricket Campus will provide the vehicle for improved standards and greater access for all of our national teams and squads – male, female, all-abilities, Indigenous and indoor – as well as becoming a premier playing venue for national age titles and pathway teams.

"Australian Cricket has committed to spending more than $4m to achieve this vision, and looks forward to working with all interested parties to make the National Cricket Campus an internationally renowned facility in the future."

The Kalinga precinct will see a new pavilion built to cater for male and female teams to service the two ovals, lighting of the playing and training areas, 16 new turf practice wickets and nets and renovation of the existing surface and wicket blocks.

Allan Border Field will also be redeveloped, with Queensland Cricket's main building to be refurbished, new electronic scoreboard and lighting as well as additional training and playing pitches.

The NCC precinct already houses CA's experimental 'spin wicket' project where baked clay and soil is used to replicate subcontinental spinning surfaces. That facility was used extensively by Australia's Test players before this year's compelling Border-Gavaskar series.

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