Tourism Minister Liz Constable today revealed an unprecedented agreement that the State Government, the Western Australian Cricket Association and Cricket Australia recently forged.

 

“I'm thrilled that we have secured the best available international cricket matches alongside the iconic Boxing Day and New Year's Test matches for Perth until at least 2012,” Dr Constable said.

 

“This is a coup for local and visiting cricket fans as well as for the State - we have created an attractive three-week circuit for travelling cricket fans.

 

The Minister said that the deal would attract an additional 9,500 visitors to Perth who will stay more than 96,000 nights, boosting the economy by about $28million over the three years.

 

“Without Eventscorp's involvement, it is likely that Perth would host a Test match each year, but not the all important third Ashes Test,” Dr Constable said.

 

“The third Test can often be the deciding match and is pivotal in any cricket series, and the timing means we can attract visitors from overseas to Western Australia on their way through to Melbourne and Sydney for the Boxing Day and New Year's Test matches.

 

“Together with the Western Australian Cricket Association, we will be re-launching the successful ‘Cricket City Perth' next year to maximise the Ashes Test match and the 2012 Indian Test match experience.

 

“Cricket City Perth will potentially feature festival matches, city live sites, corporate events, celebrity events and coaching clinics across the City, providing an incentive for cricket visitors to stay here longer.”

 

The three-year agreement that Eventscorp and the WACA brokered with Cricket Australia is likely to include an international Twenty20 match featuring Australia in Perth. Only three Twenty20 marches are scheduled in Australia each season.

 

“Our strategy behind this deal is to maximise the number of visitors to WA for the cricket and generate strong international media interest in the matches, effectively promoting Perth to millions of television viewers in Australia and overseas,” the Minister said.

 

“Just as an example, there are likely to be over 100million Indian viewers following all the action from the WACA.”

 

The cricket Test matches will be: