Source : ABC NEWS
Cricket Australia (CA) will consider avoiding Docklands Stadium until later in the summer in future BBL seasons, after admitting it has been “presented poorly”.
Melbourne Renegades players were left to defend the ground after Monday night’s win over Perth, with the field looking patchy and well below standard.
“You look at the outfield and you think it’s going to be pretty uneven but it’s been pretty similar-looking the last few years,” Renegades paceman and player of the match Tom Rogers, who took 3-22, told Fox Cricket.
“Actually under foot and moving around on it as a player, it’s pretty solid, you don’t notice much difference.”
“It’s a lot better than it looks, to be honest, there’s no nasty ones we are getting in the face so we’re grateful for that,” Sutherland told Seven.
The pitch also proved difficult to bat on after two days of the roof being closed due to wet weather, with the Scorchers struggling to score early.
The issue came just two days after similar issues at the Sydney Showground, where large parts of dirt had no grass covering during the Sydney Smash.
Both grounds are multi-purpose venues, with Pearl Jam concerts having headlined a raft of events between AFL and BBL seasons.
An annual RMIT university graduation was also held at Docklands last Wednesday, before Monday’s match.
BBL boss Alistair Dobson admitted on Tuesday he was “disappointed”, conceding the ground was “presented poorly” and didn’t give the BBL the best game of the season.
“By and large, they present good outfields and good wickets, particularly as we get further into the season,” Dobson said on SEN.
“That [multi-purpose aspect] does come with some trade-offs, but we don’t expect it to be the size of the trade-off we saw last night.”
Dobson said his organisation was open to not scheduling BBL games at Docklands until close to January in the future if it would ensure a better surface.
But that would cause more issues, with the MCG also offline in the lead-up to and during the Boxing Day Test.
“Last night would certainly give us cause to reflect on that and whether we schedule in a different way going forward,” Dobson said.
“The trade-off on that, though, is you end up with a lot of games of BBL in a short period.
“It’s a balance between the best possible preparation and then that we space those games out to give fans a chance to go.”
Beyond player safety, the other main concern is the way in which the Showgrounds and Docklands outfields showcase the BBL overseas.
CA want the BBL to be the second-biggest franchise league after the IPL, with TV ratings and crowds both up by close to 30 per cent this season.
But ground presentation has not met those same levels, with officials well aware it does not reflect well.
Regardless, Dobson rejected any suggestion the Renegades should abandon Docklands and join Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
“We have two clubs in Melbourne that have different identities and different fan bases and different history,” Dobson said.
“The Melbourne Stars are iconic to the MCG and the Renegades are keen to have a point of difference on that.
“I don’t think pushing more games to the MCG is the right thing for the Renegades or for the competition.”
AAP
