Great Barrier Reef Arena Becomes Australia's 12th Test Venue

Australia has a 12th men’s Test venue. Play began at 10am local time on Saturday at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay. Australia and Bangladesh are contesting the second and deciding Test of their two-match series there. It is the first ground added to Australia’s Test list since Manuka Oval in Canberra in 2019, ABC Sport reported. Mackay sits on the central Queensland coast.

The cricket kept pace with the occasion. Mitchell Starc struck with the first ball bowled in Test cricket at the ground and had five wickets inside the opening session, according to ABC News and ESPNcricinfo. Bangladesh arrived in Mackay 1-0 up. They won in Darwin by nine wickets on 16 August, their first Test victory on Australian soil.

Behind the Mackay listing

Cricket Australia confirmed the venue’s Test status in February 2026. The arena becomes Queensland’s fourth Test ground, after the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, the Gabba and Cazalys Stadium in Cairns, Queensland Cricket said at the time. Terry Svenson, the Queensland Cricket chief executive, called the decision “the culmination of many years of hard work from numerous individuals across several organisations”. He also thanked Mackay Regional Council for its investment in the game.

Adrian Young, chief executive of the Great Barrier Reef Arena, was more direct. “Hosting our first Test match is recognition that Mackay has earned its place on the international stage,” he said.

A club ground, rebuilt in stages

The site belongs to the Mackay Cricket Association, which developed it in the 1940s. It carries the name of A. L. Harrup, the association president of the day. The main oval is named for Ray Mitchell, a vice-president who helped buy the land. The ground opened in September 1948. The Great Barrier Reef Arena naming rights were adopted in 2018.

Redevelopment began in 2021 under Queensland’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan. In November 2025 the state government committed $23.5 million from its Games On! program to Stage 2, inside a project the responsible department put at $50 million. Those works cover cricket, AFL and community sport rather than cricket alone. Mackay Regional Council has also invested in the precinct, Queensland Cricket said.

The August window in northern Australia

Australian Test cricket normally runs from November to January. Darwin and Mackay sit outside that block. Todd Greenberg, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has said northern Australia offers an alternative window in an increasingly crowded international calendar. He has also pointed to world class facilities standing free in August.

Darwin’s Test was that city’s first since 2004. It drew 18,352 spectators across four days, an average of 4,588, Austadiums reported. The same outlet reported day one at Mackay as an official sell-out, with tickets still on sale for the later days. Queensland expects the match to be worth about A$2 million to the region.

Mackay’s cricket record before Saturday

The ground’s international history is short and mostly recent. Its best known match was also its shortest.

• 28 February 1992: India v Sri Lanka, World Cup, abandoned after two deliveries
• September 2021: three Australia v India women’s ODIs
• October 2023: Sheffield Shield, Queensland v Victoria
• 2023 and 2024: Australia A four-day matches against New Zealand and India
• 2025: two Australia v South Africa ODIs

One name links that Shield match to Saturday. Matt Renshaw made 135 in it and is the only player with two first-class hundreds at the ground, ABC Sport reported. Australia recalled him for this Test, three years after his last. He opens in place of Jake Weatherald, on a ground where he has already made a hundred.