You don’t have to go to the cricket, or even like the game, to enjoy its new entertainment precinct.
The Pink Village will be the place to be during the Domain Pink Test, January 3-5.
Head to Centennial Parklands, just outside gate E of the SCG, for food, music and entertainment.
There will also be comfortable seating so you can watch the cricket on big screens.
Live music from acts such as Oberon Lane, Luxe Duo and Luke Zanc Trio will provide the vibe, plus there will be food trucks for all tastes.
Choose from fine diner Nel. or the tapas bites of Bodega. There will be healthy bowls from Agape Organic or the less-healthy eats by Chur Burger. Chatkazz, one of the best Indian restaurant in Harris Park, will also be there.
English chef Nelly Robinson of Nel. has two great reasons to get involved; as a northern boy he loves his cricket and his beloved Nanna died of breast cancer.
He put a lot of thought into his menu.
“When at the cricket, I was brought up that you have to be able to eat something with one hand, so you can have a Pimms in the other hand,” he says. “But that rule works just as well for beer.”
He’ll be serving up a chicken katsu burger with spicy coleslaw and a sausage sanga with onion and mustard mayonnaise, for $16 each.
Dessert is a deep-fried vanilla and wattleseed ice-cream in the shape of a cricket ball, covered in a pink beetroot and raspberry crumb for $14.
Pink Village food vendors will donate $1 of each dish sale to the McGrath Foundation.
The Domain Pink Test, now in its 11th year, is a partnership between Cricket Australia and the McGrath Foundation.
Head of Match Operations and Events at Cricket Australia, Antonia Briggs, says the Pink Village is a way to reward cricket fans, who regularly give feedback on the food and beverage offering.
“They spend a huge amount of time at the SCG and this is another way for them to enjoy themselves,” she says.
“It doesn’t always have to be about the game. We know that five per cent of people come to the cricket on their own and this is all about saying thank you.”
Glenn McGrath thinks it’s incredible that the Pink Test is still evolving.
“This is making it bigger and better,” he says.
“The Pink Test has always been the family day at the cricket, traditionally you bring the wife and kids along and the Pink Village caters to them.”
Sara Leonardi-McGrath loves the family-friendly concept, it means she can entertain her three-year-old daughter Madison during a long day.
“It’s fantastic, some of us don’t go to watch the cricket!” she jokes.
“It gives us the opportunity to have something else to do and opens it up to the whole family.”
