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The 'G ready for big ODI summer

Game 4 the first in bumper season of 50-over cricket

When Tony Gordon walks into his office at 7.30 tomorrow morning, he knows he won't be leaving until well after the sun goes down that night.

It's not a Friday at work that most of us dream of, but it comes with the territory when your office is the home of Australian sport, the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Gordon is the Melbourne Cricket Club's arenas operations manager, and he's gearing up for the first of an unprecedented seven one-day internationals that will be played at the venue in the space of four months.

The seventh of those matches is the game's showpiece event, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup final that will be played in front of a packed house on March 29.

And just like the six ODIs that precede it, starting with tomorrow's fourth Carlton Mid ODI between Australia and South Africa, Gordon and his team will be at the ground long before the players and the fans, working tirelessly to ensure the historic venue is up to standard.

"From sun up to sun down we'll be here ... for around 16 hours," Gordon told cricket.com.au.

"We start at 7.30 when the covers come off. And then we'll get the ground cut a couple of times in each direction.

"At a minimum we'll cut the ground twice and sometimes we'll even roll it just to make sure it's fast and hard.

"Most of the work to the wicket has actually been done already and is ready to go the day prior, just in case anything's compromised.

"So as far as the outfield goes on a match day it's just that ... cutting to get that speed up."

Following tomorrow's match, which could see Australia clinch the five-match series against the Proteas with a game to spare, the MCG will next play host to an ODI on January 16 when Australia and India clash as part of the Carlton Mid ODI tri-series.

Then comes three World Cup group games - Australia v England on February 14, South Africa v India on February 22 and Sri Lanka v Bangladesh on February 26 - before the 2nd quarter-final on March 19 and the final ten days later.

Throw in the Boxing Day Test against India, and a Bupa Sheffield Shield game next week, and it's no wonder the decision was made to rip up and re-lay the turf immediately after the 2014 AFL season finished on September 27. 

And it's the 2015 AFL season, which begins at the MCG just three days after the World Cup final, that will complicate Gordon's busy summer even further.

"(Hosting the World Cup) is a huge highlight and provided we pull everything off without a hitch, we'll have a well-deserved breather after that," Gordon said.

"But everything we've done over the last little while has been gearing towards this summer and making sure everything's spot on.

"It's something we can't really compromise - the condition of the ground - to prepare for what's next.

"We have to deliver the best surface possible for each match that we have.

"It will have to be a very quick turnaround."

Image Id: ~/media/DE44E9CC98E1470CBA93F70718AF65B7The MCG turf was ripped up ahead of a big summer of ODI cricket // Getty Images