The turnstiles will be rolling over at Perth's new $1.5 billion stadium in just two years, and that means cricket in Western Australia is counting down to the biggest move in its history.

Its current home at the WACA Ground is synonymous with fast bowling, and plans are well underway to replicate that at Burswood.

But Australian fast bowling veteran Mitchell Johnson has expressed fears that once cricket moves across the Swan River, the characteristics of the famous Perth wicket will be lost.

"I remember playing my first shield game here in the early 2000s and playing against Joey Angel and Brad Williams, and just remembering how quick and bouncy it was then, and the cracks and how that played." Johnson said

"You are just not going to get that anywhere else."

The solution may already be growing at nearby Gloucester Park, the home of harness racing in Perth.

A prototype of the drop-in pitch that will be used at the new venue has been soaking up the sun there for about six weeks.

The pitch will be tested under match conditions in February.

Perth Stadium project director Ronnie Hurst said the quality of the wicket at Burswood was of paramount importance.

"It doesn't matter what sport it is, the playing surface is the most important thing to the teams, and none more so than in cricket," he said.

"If you lose the quality of surface you lose so much more, so we are focussing a lot of time and energy on making sure we get this prototype right."

Mr Hurst was confident that with the help of Cricket Australia and the WACA, Perth would remain a pace-bowling paradise when the new stadium opens in 2018.

"We are going to give it the best shot to replicate that speed and bounce because that is what Western Australian is famous for, and that is what cricket in Western Australia is famous for," he said.

Whatever happens with the new pitch, one thing is for certain, cricket in WA will never be the same.