MANUKA Oval has all but saved the domestic Twenty20 competition, Big Bash boss Alistair Dobson declared after the Canberra venue hosted its 13th and last game of the season on Thursday night.

After being a home away from home for Sydney Thunder in past seasons, Canberra’s premier cricket ground extraordinarily hosted more games than any other venue in the BBL competition this summer.

Cricket ACT were occasionally given barely days notice to stage the next game amid border changes from coronavirus cases including Thursday’s challenger when Perth Scorchers were unable to fly to Western Australia to play hosts over quarantine and lockdown issues.

Dobson publicly recognised Canberra’s contribution to this competition on Friday.

“The BBL wishes to thank the people from Canberra for their extraordinary contribution to the success of the BBL10 season,” he said.

“We’d like to recognise the people of Canberra, who have shown their love of the Big Bash on all 13 occasions at which the crowds come into Manuka.

“In all, over 50,000 fans have come through the gates to enjoy high quality cricket in a Covid-safe environment and we look forward to bring them more cricket next year.”

Dobson made special mention must go to the oval’s curators for working tirelessly to ensure the facilities were “world class standard”.

Both the adept readiness and playing conditions has given Canberra extra bonus points to stage another Test match but that would not be until 2023-24.