Mildura East Cricket Club will call the Mildura Sporting Precinct (MSP) home from the 2023/24 season, bringing even more sporting action and participation to the precinct.
Mildura Rural City Councillors last night endorsed the results of a thorough expression of interest process to determine the precinct’s permanent cricket tenant.
Councillor for Recreation and Events Mark Eckel congratulated Mildura East Cricket Club and said he looked forward to seeing cricket become a permanent fixture at the MSP from October this year.
“It’s great to see further activation of what is already a thriving sporting precinct with the addition of one of our region’s most popular summer sports,” he said.
“The addition of Sunraysia Cricket Association action from this coming season represents yet another step towards the precinct reaching its full potential.”
Cr Eckel said last night’s decision was based on responses to the comprehensive expression of interest process.
“A major factor behind the recommendation based on these responses is the current participation trends at Mildura East Cricket Club,” he said.
“An example is Mildura East are delivering the Woolworths Cricket Blast program, which based on Cricket Australia data, shows participation rates in Victoria for players 5 to 12 has increased by 9% while female participation has increased by 93%.
“Mildura East Cricket Club also demonstrated through its responses that it has developed an inclusive culture which includes a high portion of participants from CALD communities.”
Cr Eckel said the addition of a permanent cricket tenant would provide a significant boost in sporting participation at the precinct, particularly in terms of growth in local cricket, taking in junior and female participation.
“It will also pave the way for even more major events at the precinct, with the potential for regional, state and national-calibre cricket competition,” he said.
Mildura East Cricket Club President Mathew Hunt said his players were excited to move into their new home.
“We’re ecstatic following last night’s decision and look forward to the move to the Mildura Sporting Precinct,” Mr Hunt said.
“The larger, state-of-the-art facilities at the precinct will help our club achieve our long-term aims of increasing our membership base and diversity, especially among our junior and female cricket.”
Today’s announcement comes ahead of the imminent completion of state-of-the-art cricket facilities at the MSP, including:
- Premier Oval with turf playing wicket and 500-lux lighting
- Second Oval with turf playing wicket and 150-lux lighting
- Eight-lane cricket training nets featuring four synthetic wickets and four turf wickets
- Change rooms and umpire facilities
- Storage space
- Social and function room access.
Cricket facilities at the precinct have been made possible through funding from the Victorian Government’s Local Sports Infrastructure Fund and the Australian Cricket Infrastructure Fund (Cricket Australia/Cricket Victoria).
