08 June 2015

The first Test match of the 2015 Investec Ashes will be held at Glamorgan Cricket Club’s SWALEC Stadium, in Cardiff. 

The Ashes are a five-match Test cricket series held every two years between England and Australia, first played in 1882.

This time, the 2015 Investec Ashes series is to be staged ay Glamorgan’s SWALEC stadium in Cardiff, Wales, from July 8-12.

The Avaya Fabric Connect network willl provide 120 journalists from around the world with Wi-Fi in the broadcast and media centre, as well as providing pitch-side access for live correspondents and photographers.

The Ashes usually attract capacity crowds and a global television audience of millions. Therefore, the communications infrastructure needs to be able to manage video journalism, live video streaming and second screening, and handle huge amounts of data traffic.

Garry Veale, president of Avaya Europe, says: “Avaya works with some of the most advanced and highest profile sporting venues in the world, including the Sochi Winter Olympics last year.

“I’m confident our technology will deliver not only on Glamorgan’s expectations for this year’s Ashes, but on those of the media and fans around the world.

“Looking to the future, we’re excited to be part of Glamorgan’s ambition to reinvent the spectator experience in cricket.

æWith the sheer amount of time fans spend in the stadium, there’s huge potential to make more of the fan experience through custom apps, e-commerce, marketing initiatives and promotions, and to boost the value proposition.”

Glamorgan’s future plan is to become “the most technically advanced cricket stadium in the world”.

After the Investec Ashes Test, the club will continue to work with Avaya to roll out access to the Wi-Fi network to guests and spectators. Glamorgan hopes to set the precedent for other cricket venues to provide a more engaging fan experience.

The Club will also stage a NatWest Twenty20 International between England and Australia in August and has won the right to stage matches in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Hugh Morris, CEO, Glamorgan Cricket Club, says: “In my playing days, you’d typically have a press box of writers filing their copy over the telephone or even by fax machine.

“Today sports fans expect immediate coverage of events, regardless of where they are in the world, and increasingly technology-savvy and digitally-minded viewers demand an engaging and interactive experience.

“Test match coverage has evolved to include extensive previews and detailed analysis and the role of the sports writer has evolved significantly with an expectation to provide rolling coverage in and around every development in every international contest.

“There’s incredible pressure to ensure the network can withstand large amounts of data passing through it over a long period of time. Our media need to know they can count on the network running seamlessly from the very first Tweet of the day, until the last story is filed.”