New Cricket Ireland Stadium - Abbotstown

Strumms · 19-11-2022 3:06am #1

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/2022/11/17/irish-cricket-to-get-permanent-stadium-on-sport-ireland-campus-at-abbotstown/

Malahide has a definite relaxed charm, nice atmosphere and good to read that there will still be an odd fixture there too.

strange though that in depth details are so scant given the go ahead is happening.

hopefully the capacity is planned with crickets status here as the fastest growing sport in the country. 15,000 minimum I reckon is required with Malahide regularly hosting 10,000…but this being Ireland …

Strumms · 30-01-2023 3:28pm

https://www.rte.ie/sport/cricket/2023/0129/1352560-deutrom-new-stadium-just-what-irish-cricket-needs/

..

iffandonlyif · 11-06-2023 5:38pm

I’m very ambivalent about this. Malahide is such a pleasant place to watch cricket. To be moving to some generic stadium…in Blanchardstown…in a second-rate ‘sporting complex’…is just so depressing. It’s almost emphasising that cricket is a niche sport in Ireland.

There are so many attractive cricket grounds around the world and I’ve always felt that while Ireland mightn’t yet be competing against the test nations, in Malahide we have a ground of which we can be proud. I cringe at the thought of bussing the Indian cricket team, say, out to Abbotstown and visiting fans having to troupe through housing estates.

I understand that Malahide is expensive, too small and logistically difficult, but leaving it will be a lamentable loss of character.

TrueDub · 11-06-2023 8:45pm

Malahide is picturesque, but a disaster in terms of cost, and a temporary stadium in a field is nothing to be proud of, frankly.

And it's not like there's hundreds of years of tradition anchoring the Irish team to that location - Clontarf was the home of international cricket until quite recently. Sadly, running internationals there now is a complete non-starter due to space issues.

If moving to Abottstown is done correctly (proper stadium, catering, bars etc along with decent transport & parking options) it'll be streets ahead of anywhere else.

Alternatively, I'm sure there are several places north of Malahide that might be appropriate for a cricket stadium...

Strumms · 12-06-2023 2:37pm

I love Malahide, it’s an immensely nice setting and an all round pleasant experience…

I wonder did anyone ever look into the provision of more permanent seating and a pavilion there…? If done and designed nicely and with empathy to its surroundings it wouldn’t detract from the area.. maybe access would be an issue though.

personally I think it could be done, should be done…

id say though getting the planning past residents might be a nightmare…. Any increase in capacity they’d be all over it like wildfire… not like the locals out there couldn’t afford the best legal experts and so on.

TrueDub · 12-06-2023 2:55pm

There is a pavilion, it's the only permanent structure around the ground in that photo and is at roughly 9 o'clock just above the tennis courts.

Everything else, and I mean everything, needs to be shipped in, assembled, and then disassembled and shipped out. It feels exactly like what it is, a temporary ground in a large field. It has little to no atmosphere, IMO, and suffers from being more of a festival setup than a sports ground.

Strumms · 12-06-2023 3:27pm

True, there was planning for upgrading including providing a more modern pavilion suitable for modern day international cricket…

O’Dwyer and associates were the architects…

duuno what’s happening now.

iffandonlyif · 13-06-2023 6:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120702831#Comment_120702831

Perhaps there is no other solution than moving but you’re dissolving the dilemma by understating the attraction of Malahide. It mightn’t do much for you but it’s a delight to me and several people I know to take the Dart out to Malahide for matches.

Temporary stadium ‘in a field’? It’s in the grounds of a castle! You say Abbotstown will be streets ahead. But on what measure? Certainly not on character.

TrueDub · 14-06-2023 8:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120711070#Comment_120711070

If it has permanent toilets, it'll be streets ahead.

If it has permanent dressing rooms, it'll be streets ahead.

If it has permanent officials facilities, it'll be streets ahead.

If it has permanent dining facilities and bars, it'll be streets ahead.

Malahide is in a field - which happens to be next to a castle. Big deal. "Character" is a nebulous enough concept when dealing with sporting facilities, and tends to be something people worry about when the actual needs of the player, the spectator and the game are met.

I'm glad you like Malahide so much, each to his own. But as a venue to play, officiate or spectate it has lots of drawbacks and little enough to commend it.

Doodah7 · 30-06-2023 8:38am

And if you are not on the DART line, it is hell to get to.

Strumms · 23-07-2023 9:43pm

What about Abbotstown… Castleknock is the nearest train station… a 35 minute walk away from Sports Ireland Campus. That’s according to SI themselves.

im a 15 minute drive to the train/dart. Then Malahide station is 3 minutes from the cricket in Malahide…

I understand the point though about permanent facilities.

hopefully too costs remain reasonable…..that was one of the arguments of moving the associated costs of putting in temporary stands and other facilities at Malahide was prohibitive. I don’t see the cost to the fan being cheaper personally..

RoyalCelt · 14-08-2024 6:55pm

4k stadium announced. What did malahide hold?

breezy1985 · 14-08-2024 7:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120702230#Comment_120702230

Well cricket is a niche sport and just like all the other ones that benefit from the rare Irish infrastructure success that is the sports campus.

I agree that it's hard to get to as twice now I've done public transport all the way on a day trip from Limerick to Dublin for cyclo-cross. Not much harder than Malahide though.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058272374/new-cricket-ireland-stadium-abbotstown

"Fastest growing sport" is a very misleading term used by a number of sports. Very easy when going from a tiny base.

iffandonlyif · 15-08-2024 1:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122503573#Comment_122503573

Three times that, and it was sold out for big matches.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122503626#Comment_122503626

Cricket is niche in having a small support base, but it’s much more established than many other niche sports. There are four or five clubs across D4 and D6, and many of the Dublin private schools play it. If hockey, for example, had a ground in front of Malahide Castle, it would have no reason to move out to Abbotstown.

breezy1985 · 15-08-2024 1:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122506157#Comment_122506157

I'm just looking at Abbotstown geographically from my own point of view. I can understand why people from the core cricket area of south Dublin (and maybe Belfast) would prefer it to stay around there. I would generally be on the side of staying in spiritual homes.

But I can also see the government side of this and I think worrying about "bussing Indian teams out there and fans going through housing estates" is unfair on the facility. It's mostly M3 and M50 with a tiny bit of Snugborough road where you barely see a house. There was about 8000 at the events I was at and it had a very efficient shuttle bus service.

You say Malahide held 3 times what this stadium will be but that was all temporary stands and I'm sure this new venue will have room for the same structures so 4000 isn't something to worry about.

TrueDub · 15-08-2024 2:00pm

"Malahide holds 12000"

Possibly, when all stands are up and all seats are sold. This only happens when India come to town, which is rare, and maybe Pakistan.

For some other nations and games, they don't do all the stands, so capacity is a lot lower, probably closer to the 4k Abbotstown will (allegedly) hold.

For some games (most, IMHO) a capacity of 4000 will be around 3250 too much. Cricket does not attract big crowds except for T20is v India and possibly Pakistan. For most other games, I could walk a lap of the boundary and know or know of most people there.

The format also affects it - the one time we had a test in Malahide, the first day was rammed, but rained off. The second day was full, but not rammed. The 3rd & 4th days were no more than half-full, even on a weekend.

Having a permanent structure with proper facilities (player and spectator) with 4000 seats will be infinitely better than temporary stuctures in a field in Malahide.

Strumms · 15-08-2024 2:24pm

the capacity is a real disappointment. Very Irish though really, a lovely new modern stadium ? Yep, BUT, tiny…. Good luck getting tickets for matches now…

it’s growing, that’s obvious to anyone who has been going out to Malahide or involved at youth or amateur level at clubs, so why build a facility so small ? So much smaller than Malahide’s capacity…. ? That make’s absolutely zero sense….so Irish though a complete lack of thinking and ambition…

You’ll hear and are hearing.. “state of the art in comfort, catering, corporate, media facilities, etc..” but that’s pretty pointless when only 4000 people fit in it.

Imagine England, India, South Africa and Australia coming here, you could sell that fixture out almost 4/5 times over based on that capacity….

we’ll still be heading out to Malahide for the above games… I reckon…and maybe Abbotstown for the likes of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, I hope anyway….scramble for Abbotstown tickets will be nutsville for any of the big 4….sure I’ve missed out on tickets for Malahide on general sale and had to basically acquire them through a connected individual….

New Cricket Ireland Stadium - Abbotstown

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