Multi-million dollar cricket centre for Wade Park

Orange will be the home of NSW’s first regional, multi-million dollar Cricket Centre of Excellence and it could be open as early as next year.

Deputy Premier Troy Grant, Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones and Orange City Council Mayor John Davis announced funding for the $2.2 million project today (October 31).

Cr John Davis said the push to make Wade Park the home of cricket in regional NSW was part of a broader plan to encourage “major games” to be played in the city.

“It is indeed a great day for Orange…we’re absolutely over the moon that we’re putting in about $750,000 into a project worth about $2.2 million,” Cr Davis said.

Preliminary work on the indoor facility, which will include two multi-purpose courts for indoor cricket, suitable for netball and futsal, four adjoining high-performance cricket lanes, change rooms, facilities for those with a disability, office space, a kiosk and a multi-purpose room with a viewing area looking over Wade Park, will begin in the coming months, with completion scheduled for as early as the 2017-18 season.

Mr Jones said Orange was chosen as the first location for one of a dozen regional centres of excellence because of the tenacity of Orange City Council in pursuing Cricket NSW.

“This is the first regional centre we want to build across NSW and we’re delighted Orange City Council took the initiative to be first,” Mr Jones said.

“We’ve got a strategy to build 11 or 12 regional centres of excellence …we thought well this is a council that wants to have a crack and make things happen and so we are very pleased to support it.”

The NSW Government contributed $1 million to the project along with the council’s $750,000 with the remaining funds coming from Cricket NSW, Cricket Australia and Clubs NSW.

The Centre of Excellence will be the new base for the existing Cricket NSW development staff.

Mr Grant said the project would create pathways for “outstanding players” and give them the opportunity to take their cricket to the next level.

“This is an absolutely cracking day for Orange and the central west,” Mr Grant said.

“Today is a massive investment.”

Australian women’s cricket team member, Cricketer Ellyse Perry, who was in Orange for the announcement, said the centre would provide extra motivation for regional sportspeople.

“There’s no better time to be playing cricket… these kinds of facilities provide extra opportunity and motivation to be involved in the sport and the more people we have playing sport... the better. “

CRICKET: Orange mayor John Davis discusses plans for the cricket Centre of Excllence with Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones, Australian Women's Cricket team member Ellyse Perry, Nationals candidate for Orange Scott Barrett and NSW Deputy Premier Troy Grant.