Melbourne Renegades chief executive Stuart Coventry has spoken about the potential for Ballarat to host a men’s Big Bash League game in the future.
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Speaking to The Courier at Tuesday’s announcement regarding a Women’s Big Bash League fixture being played at the Eastern Oval in December, Coventry was open to the idea of bringing the men’s competition to the city.
“Cricket Victoria and Melbourne Stars have announced they are playing a game in Moe this year and they are a smaller regional venue,” Coventry.
“So being a short drive from the city, there’s no reason why the possibility to play a game at Mars Stadium up here is not a potential reality in the future.”
The Renegades’ ground is Marvel Stadium (formerly Etihad Stadium) in Melbourne, but the club will play two home matches in Geelong this season.
Coventry said “a lot of things have to fall into line” for a fixture in Ballarat to happen in the coming years.
“Marvel Stadium has just been amazing to work with and that’s a really good home venue for us,” he said.
“We are trialling in Geelong for two more matches this year and they are very supportive. We have got great support from the state government to bring that match to life.
“I would never rule it (a match in Ballarat) completely off the table, it’s just something we might have a look at in the near future.”
Possibly helping the push to get a game in Ballarat is the fact the Renegades are sponsored by local company Mars, which hold the naming rights to the stadium in North Ballarat.
“Mars has been terrific as a partner and will be for three years for the girls and we are in discussions at the moment about extending our men’s agreement,” Coventry said.
The newly-redeveloped venue, which has hosted games of AFL in recent seasons, has the infrastructure to allow a drop-in cricket pitch.
The Big Bash League has surged in popularity in recent years and draws massive crowds to venues all over Australia.
Matches are played in the Twenty20 style format, with big hitting, high scores and fast-paced action the flavour of the competition.
The Renegades will kick off their new BBL campaign with a showdown against the Sydney Thunder on December 2.
On Tuesday morning, it was confirmed that the Renegades will play a fully-fledged WBBL clash for premiership points against the Adelaide Strikers on Sunday, December 9 at the Eastern Oval.
The match will begin from 2.10pm.
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