Optus Stadium (aka Perth Stadium)

Having only been officially opened in January 2018, Optus Stadium is one of Australia's newest cricket grounds, as well as one of the biggest in the country thanks to its 60,000+ capacity.

Used mainly for Australian rules football and cricket, the then-Premier Colin Barnett initially said that naming rights for the stadium would not be sold, with the idea of potentially naming it after the nearby Swan River in Perth. However, the decision was later made to sell the naming rights to one of the largest telecommunications companies in Australia, Optus, in a 10-year deal.

The roof of Optus Stadium, which is known as the 'Falcon's Nest,' is one of the most interesting aspects of the cricket ground. It features sliding panels that can be adjusted for weather control.

Optus Stadium has held a range of internationals involving Australia, but the 2025-2026 Men's Ashes will be the first time that England have visited the Perth-based ground for a Test match.

As is the case with some of Australia's major cricket grounds, Optus Stadium has become an important concert venue for touring artists, with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift playing.

Optus Stadium Pitch Report

The Optus Stadium pitch report often produces a spicy surface with a lot of pace, while the pitch can also be prone to developing cracks. While less of an issue for the shortest formats of the game such as Twenty20, this is certainly something for cricket fans to keep an eye on here.

In the Big Bash League, there is a particular advantage to batting first and setting a target.

Data from advancecricket.com shows that 55% of T20 matches at Optus Stadium are won by the team batting first, so this is something for cricket captains to have in their mind in the BBL.

The average first innings score for BBL T20 matches is 165 at Optus Stadium, which is one of the highest figures for the competition in Australia. This is testament to the batting surface, which encourages heavy hitting from the batters. The highest score in the first innings of a T20 match so far at Optus Stadium is 213, which shows the type of scoring that is possible in Perth.

Perth Scorchers are the home team for the Big Bash League at the Optus Stadium and they are actually the most successful side in the competition's history. They have won five titles in the Big Bash League so far and have also reached the final on three other occasions, which indicates that there could be an advantage to being able to play their home matches at Optus Stadium.

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