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AAP
AAP
Sport
Steve Larkin

SA bid to pinch Sydney Test 'ridiculous': Cricket NSW

South Australia's bid to steal the New Year's Test from Sydney has been dismissed as "ridiculous" by Cricket NSW.

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas and the SA Cricket Association want Adelaide Oval to host the Test match in the first week of the New Year.

"In South Australia, we've got an amazing record of people turning up to sporting events," Malinauskas told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

"We often have bigger crowds than Sydney and that's despite having a far smaller population.

"South Australians are passionate about their sport, they love their cricket, myself included.

"So we stand ready to work with Cricket Australia to improve their product to more people around the country."

The bid is part of the Malinauskas government's plans to lure more sporting events to Adelaide, which recently won hosting rights for the AFL's so-called gather round, where all 18 clubs will play in the city over a four-day period in April.

That AFL round comes a week before Adelaide stages a LIV Golf tournament, with the SA capital also hosting the opening match of rugby league's State of Origin series this year.

But the bid to pinch the New Year's Test has been slammed by Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon.

"My initial reaction was one of not believing it," Germon told reporters in Sydney.

"It's a ridiculous notion that the New Year's Test should go to Adelaide when it's so much part of the culture ... to have the New Year's Test here in Sydney.

"We will just be telling Cricket Australia there's no way the Sydney Test should be moving."

Germon said rain, which has had an impact on the Sydney Test six times in the past seven years, was no reason to switch the timing.

Sydney holds the unenviable record of having the most days washed out in Test cricket of any Australian venue, with 25 completely lost over the years.

Cricket Australia (CA) is expected to decide the scheduling of next summer's Test matches at a board meeting next week.

The governing body's chief executive Nick Hockley said during the most recent SCG Test match, which was heavily affected by rain, there was no push within CA to move what he described as "an iconic event on the sporting calendar".

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