{"id":529702,"date":"2026-03-09T22:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T22:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/529702\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T22:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T22:23:19","slug":"cricket-test-rig-to-assess-macquarie-point-stadium-roof-shadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/529702\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricket test rig to assess Macquarie Point stadium roof shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"

A test rig designed to determine whether cricket can be played under a roofed stadium has been completed at Hobart\u2019s Macquarie Point, with cricketers set to begin testing this week.<\/p>\n

The rig simulates the roof structure of the proposed $1.13 billion Macquarie Point stadium and will assess how the translucent ETFE roof material manages shadows and sunlight on the playing surface.<\/p>\n

Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmania raised serious concerns in early 2025 that the fixed-roof design would cast shadows across the pitch, making the venue unsuitable for matches and potentially challenging even for limited-overs cricket.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the state government, the two cricket bodies said the design meant the stadium was unlikely to be conducive to hosting Test cricket.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cricket test rig to assess Macquarie Point stadium roof shadows<\/p>\n

They also flagged concerns about one-day and T20 fixtures.<\/p>\n

Macquarie Point Development Corporation (MPDC) CEO Anne Beach acknowledged the challenge during a parliamentary inquiry, saying the transparent covering created contrast on clear days.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cricket test rig to assess Macquarie Point stadium roof shadows<\/p>\n

The timber and steel beams, Beach said, while engineered to be as small as possible, would still cast shadows.<\/p>\n

By November 2025, Cricket Tasmania CEO Dom Baker said a Gold Coast company had identified a solution that could effectively eliminate shadows on the playing surface.<\/p>\n

The proposed fix involves applying a matte treatment to one side of the ETFE roof material.<\/p>\n

This will disperse light rather than allow it to pass straight through, reducing the sharp shadows that had concerned cricket authorities.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cricket test rig to assess Macquarie Point stadium roof shadows<\/p>\n

However, the treatment had not been physically tested until now.<\/p>\n

The rig has been designed to hold a range of treated roofing materials to test shadow intensity, ball visibility and playing conditions for cricketers.<\/p>\n

It is also expected to provide data on how roof treatments affect natural turf growth underneath.<\/p>\n

The testing panel is expected to include current and former players, along with match officials.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cricket test rig to assess Macquarie Point stadium roof shadows<\/p>\n

The stadium, which passed both houses of parliament in December, is designed as a 23,000-seat multi-purpose venue and will be the home ground of the Tasmania Devils AFL team.<\/p>\n

Its fixed dome roof, supported by Tasmanian timber, would make it the largest timber-roofed stadium in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A test rig designed to determine whether cricket can be played under a roofed stadium has been completed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-529702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}