The lack of floodlights at Skilled Stadium and the underdeveloped market in Melbourne's west were critical factors that went against Geelong's bid for a Twenty20 team.
But Cricket Australia praised the bid as "outstanding" and said the strength of Geelong's submission had encouraged them to look at a further expansion of the domestic Big Bash competition.
Geelong was among three bids that Cricket Victoria submitted to CA for the two teams in the expanded Big Bash Twenty20 competition.
The league will expand from six to eight teams next summer, with Victoria's sides playing out of the MCG and Docklands.
NSW will also have two teams, based out of the SCG and Homebush.
"Our job is to make sure we take cricket to as many people as possible," said CA's marketing general manager Mike McKenna.
"When you split (Melbourne) in half, along a natural east-west divide that we have in the city, there's two really strong, growing markets.
"The west of Melbourne which is probably under-'specced' in terms of cricket at the moment, has tremendous growth and potential for us.
"It made a hard decision a little bit clearer when you looked at some of the facilities provided in those two venues (the MCG and Etihad Stadium) and I guess the critical issue was there's not lights yet at Skilled Stadium."
CA decided on the team locations at its Tuesday board meeting.
The board also asked CA management to look at further expansion of the league, given the strength of the Geelong bid.
CA will also keep the Sheffield Shield in its current form, but reduce the domestic one-day competition from 10 rounds to eight to accommodate the enlarged domestic Twenty20 schedule.
The Big Bash will start around December 15-17 and run for six weeks, with no other domestic cricket in that time.
Each team, which can have part private ownership, will play the others once before two semi-finals and a final.
"The Big Bash league will not be an exclusive window, it will be run in parallel with international cricket," said CA chief executive James Sutherland.
"Australian players who are playing Test cricket at the time won't be available to play in the Big Bash."
But CA is yet to announce other details of the expanded Big Bash, including whether it will involve player free agency.
"Most of (the questions) will be answered over the next couple of months, we're in discussions with State associations, final discussions around names and colours and with the ACA (Australian Cricketers' Association) around player rules," McKenna said.
Source http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/08/3133545.htm?site=sport§ion=cricket
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