The Gabba has hosted 67 men’s Tests and two women’s Tests since 1931 © AFP The Gabba, one of Australia’s most iconic cricket stadiums, will get demolished after the 2032 Olympic Games, as the Queensland government revealed its plans for the event scheduled to be held in Brisbane. The venue has hosted 67 men’s Tests and two women’s Tests since 1931 and was nicknamed the ‘Gabbatoir’ to highlight Australia’s dominance there. Australia went unbeaten in Tests at the venue from 1988 to 2021 – a period in which the venue mostly hosted Australia’s opening Test of the summer. The historic stadium will host the second Ashes Test later this year with Cricket Australia set to review their venue allocation for future matches following the Queensland government’s decision. Plans are now in place for a new stadium with a capacity of 63000 to be built in Victoria Park in Brisbane which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, post which it will start hosting cricket following Gabba’s demolition. However, Gabba will still likely get to host cricket’s gold medal match in the Olympics if it’s retained for the 2032 edition. “The Gabba has been a wonderful venue for cricket for many years and has provided fans and players with countless memories – however the challenges the stadium faces are well documented, and we need to look to the future,” Queensland Cricket CEO Terry Svenson said in a statement. “There is now the opportunity for Queensland to attract the world’s best cricket events, such as ICC events, men’s and women’s Ashes Series, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series between Australia and India, as well has hosting the BBL and WBBL in a new purpose-built stadium.”
