Sports Technology

Hurstville City Council is to partner with Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia to develop a new facility for both elite cricket and the local sporting community.

The $11 million project, which was approved by Hurstville City Council last week, will see construction of a brand new indoor training centre and a synthetic all-weather playing field, along with new outdoor turf training nets and upgrades to lighting at the Council’s Penshurst Park.

Also as part of the project, a grandstand will run along the eastern side of the ground and will include office space which will be available for local sporting clubs.

In addition, the adjacent Johnny Warren Indoor Centre at the Hurstville Aquatic Leisure Centre will be expanded to include two additional multi-purpose courts, taking the centre from a three to a five court facility. This will aim meet the high demand for sporting facilities in the Hurstville local government area.

The local cricket community, including the St George District Cricket Club and St George-Sutherland women’s Grade clubs and local District representative teams, will benefit greatly from having access to a quality indoor training centre and outdoor turf training facilities in their own backyard.

Cricket NSW also sees the facility as a potential supplementary training base for its High Performance programs, from male and female youth programs through to the Sydney Sixers, NSW Blues and Lendlease Breakers. The facility will allow access to top quality turf nets 12 months of the year and may be used to supplement Cricket NSW’s facilities at the SCG.

Given the exponential increase in women’s cricket, the new facility has been welcomed by NSW Breakers Coach Joanne Broadbent.

With women’s cricket edging closer to full professionalism, Broadbent anticipates having increased access to her players, at the new facility.

Broadbent explains “we’ll be able to train them more like professional athletes and expect more days out of them, or more nights depending on their hours of work, so the facilities become very important “Our home is obviously at the SCG, but it’s not always possible to have your training in one place with all the teams we have there, in particular with the Big Bash teams.

“The Breakers generally take the SCG and then the young ones are out at Blacktown. Sometimes when things aren’t available we don’t have that other resource, so this will be fantastic.”

Hurstville Mayor Vince Badalati said he was delighted that this new facility has been given the green light to proceed by council following Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia’s contribution of $400,000 towards the project.

Mayor Badalati stated “this partnership between Cricket NSW, Cricket Australia and Hurstville Council will be the first facility in NSW incorporating professional standard indoor and outdoor training facilities, as well as an all-weather synthetic community oval.

“Hurstville has a long and proud association with one of Australia’s most loved sports and many of Australia’s male and female cricket stars.

Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager of Game and Market Development Andrew Ingleton added “the cricket precinct within the Penshurst Park sporting hub is a terrific partnership between Hurstville Council, Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia, and will provide vital cricket facilities and infrastructure to the region.

“This precinct will support the continued growth of our game and assist in our vision to be Australia's favourite sport and a sport for all Australians."

Over the past 18 months Cricket NSW has been developing detailed designs for a series of innovative ‘turnkey’ sport and community facilities presenting an innovative and affordable alternative to traditional sporting infrastructure.

Developed with SMC2 and Dynamic Sports Facilities, the flexible tensile roofed structure has higher ecological and sustainability credentials than many traditional sports halls, with the tensile structure offering improved temperature regulation and ventilation while also letting in natural light - thus reducing energy and lighting costs.

The Penhurst Park project is expected to be completed in time for the 2017/18 season.

Images: The planned Penhurst Park facility (top) and indoor cricket (below - lower image courtesy of IndoorSport NSW).

21st January 2015 - CRICKET NSW PLANS TURNKEY CRICKET AND COMMUNITY CENTRES ACROSS THE STATE

15th November 2014 - INNOVATIVE SMC2 FABRIC STRUCTURES FOR MULTI SPORT USES

3rd October 2014 - MOVE TO CREATE CENTRE OF SPORTING EXCELLENCE IN NORTHERN NSW

7th July 2014 - CRICKET AUSTRALIA ADVANCES NATIONAL FACILITY GUIDELINES

9th October 2013 - BLUEFIT GROUP SPLITS TO FOCUS ON LOCAL FACILITY MANAGEMENT