Picture Credit: X
On Sunday, December 10, the fourth match of the Big Bash League (BBL) was called off at the Simonds Stadium in Geelong due to unsafe pitch. The fixture between the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers saw only 6.5 overs getting bowled in the first innings which led to the netizens showcasing their frustration on X, calling it “absolute disgrace.”
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When the play was stopped by the umpires to inspect the pitch behaving uncharacteristically, the Perth Scorchers were 30/2 with Aaron Hardie on 20 off 23 and Josh Inglis on 3 off 7 after the openers Stephen Eskinazi and Cooper Connolly lost their wickets early. Notably, the heavy rain crept under the covers overnight which led to the ground staff at the Simonds Stadium working feverishly on matchday to dry the pitch, which the captain of the Melbourne Renegades, Nic Maddinson, called “absolutely drenched” before deciding to send the opposition into batting first.
In their chat with the Australian broadcaster Seven, one of the umpires for the match said the following about the pitch in regard to stopping play on it, “That last delivery we saw behave quite uncharacteristically and in our minds we thought it behaved dangerously so that was the reason for coming off.”
Some of the reactions from the fans on X about the BBL match getting called off at the Simonds Stadium are as under:
Cricket Australia released a statement of their own about the disappointing state of affairs at the Simonds Stadium, which read, “CA will conduct a thorough review into the extremely frustrating circumstances that have resulted in the game being abandoned and a huge disappointment for fans and players.”
