Oh my Lord’s! The Gabba’s pitchside pool is a far cry from the home of English cricket

Covers are off! | Ashes fans watch the action from pitchside pool
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Benedict Moore-Bridger23 November 2017

It’s a far cry from the formality of the Long Room at Lord’s, but cricket fans watching the first day of the Ashes series in Brisbane were able to cool off in the pitch-side swimming pool.

The Pool Deck was installed at the Gabba, the city’s cricket ground, to attract more spectators — despite fears that the sight of fans in bikinis could put off players. Fans are urged to turn up in their “best pool attire” to be in with a chance of being selected by spotters who scan the crowd.

Aussies Roxanne Cambridge and Dana Landgren were among those chosen, along with members of England’s “Barmy Army”.

It was the first time the Pool Deck, set into the grandstand at the ground, with a clear screen between the pool and the outfield, has been open during an Ashes test.

In Pictures | The Ashes first Test | 23/11/2017

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Cricket commentator Simon Hughes said its relaxing ambience would be “a nice contrast to the awful abuse you get on the boundary”.

England’s batsmen appeared not to be too distracted by the 140 semi-naked fans cavorting in the water as they made a good start on day one, closing on 196-4, despite support from the crowd by Danielle Willis, fiancée of Australia captain Steve Smith.

David Gower, 60, the former England captain, said there were so many distractions among the home crowd during a Test match that it should not make a difference. “If you are batting at the Gabba during the Ashes, there are a million things going on, the crowd is hard enough. A pretty girl in a bikini should not be a distraction,” he said.

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