Melbourne Renegades BBL clash with Perth Scorchers abandoned due to dangerous pitch
Dec 10, 2023
Geelong [Australia], December 10 : Melbourne Renegades clash with Perth Scorchers in the Bib Bash League at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday has been abandoned because of a dangerous pitch.
Overnight heavy rain in Geelong went past the covers and damaged the playing surface. Concerns were raised regarding the nature of the pitch before the match by Renegades skipper Nic Maddinson.
After winning the toss and sending Scorchers to bat, Maddinson didn't hold back to give his verdict of the surface and said as quoted from cricket.com.au, "The wicket's absolutely drenched so we just want to have a look what's going to happen," Maddinson said at the toss.
From the very first delivery, the unreliable nature of the surface was on display as Scorchers ended up losing two quick wickets.
The bounce on the surface was hard to predict and Aaron Hardie struggled to time his shots but missed a majority of his strokes.
The uncharacteristic nature of the pitch continued to trouble batters and the final nail in the coffin was struck in the 7th over.
Josh Inglis was struck in his groin in Will Sutherland's over and in the fifth ball of the over, Inglis tried to play a drive that went over his bat straight to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps.
Inglis was baffled by the set of deliveries and expressed his dissatisfaction towards umpires Ben Treloar and Simon Lightbody.
Hardie wasn't pleased with what he had witnessed and went straight to talk to the umpire. The ball was handed over and the players walked off the field. Just 6.5 overs were bowled throughout the match.
Cricket Australia confirmed the 6,601 fans who turned out at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday night would get a refund for the cost of their tickets.
"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," the governing body said.
