Cardiff Bid to Host 2013 Ashes Test Match

Glamorgan County Cricket Club will begin their bid to host a 2013 Ashes Test in Cardiff on Tuesday when a delegation, led by chief executive Alan Hamer, are to present their case.

Cardiff hosted a successful Ashes Test, played between England and Australia, in 2009. However, the city was stripped of its right to host a Test match against West Indies in 2012 after being late on their payments for previous matches.

Paul Russell, the then Glamorgan chairman, had conceded the county had found it difficult to sell tickets for the England v Sri Lanka international held earlier this year, a fixture which the county had bid over £2m for staging rights.

Three venues are yet to be decided for the five-match Ashes series in 2013, with Durham’s Chester-le-Street ground and The Oval (London) being the only two confirmed hosts so far.

Cardiff’s Swalec Stadium is to host a one-day international against world champions India on 16 September and is scheduled to host a minimum of one Test, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 game before 2016.

Hamer hopes to lure another Ashes Test back to Cardiff.

He said: “We have submitted a bid to stage another Ashes Test match.

“Clearly like every other Test match venue we are to put forward our case, our strategy and business plan.”

The Welsh capital will face strong competition from established Test venues like Old Trafford (Manchester), Trent Bridge (Nottingham), Edgbaston (Birmingham) and Lord’s (London) – plus Southampton’s Rose Bowl – to stage the remaining three matches in the prestigious five-matches Ashes series.