Players and coaches from both sides share their take on the GMHBA Stadium pitch and agree the umpires made the right decision
Players disappointed but umpires made 'right call' on pitch
Disappointed Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers players and coaches have praised match officials for calling off their KFC BBL|13 match in Geelong due to a wet pitch before someone was seriously hurt.
Just 6.5 overs were possible at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday night after water from heavy downpours in the Geelong region in the 48 hours preceding the match seeped under the covers, leaving a distinct wet patch right across southern end of the wicket.
While there were concerns about the pitch prior to the match, players and officials gave it their best effort to get a game in for the 6601 fans that turned out for the fourth match of the season, and Renegades' first home fixture of BBL|13.
But the Scorchers top four of Stephen Eskinazi (0), Cooper Connolly (6), Aaron Hardie (20no) and Josh Inglis (3no) struggled to lay bat on ball, swinging and missing at 11 of the 41 deliveries as they reached 2-30 before a three-ball sequence from Will Sutherland to Inglis in the seventh over left little doubt about the state of the pitch.
Balls 6.3, 6.4 and 6.5 from Sutherland all pitched in roughly the same area with the first two decking back into Inglis, as the first hit him in the groin and the second was inside edged through to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock who grassed a low chance to his left.
But the third fuller-length delivery seamed the other way and ballooned over Inglis' bat through to de Kock who put his glove to his mouth in shock as his Scorchers keeping counterpart put his hands out to express his dismay towards umpires Ben Treloar and Simon Lightbody.
The two standing umpires then conferred before taking players from the field, with the match officially abandoned about 15 minutes later.
Scorchers head coach Adam Voges said he had concerns about the state of the wicket before a ball was bowled, and was thankful none of his batters were seriously injured in the 6.5 overs of play.
"It looked like it probably got worse over the course of the six overs," Voges said after the match was abandoned.
"The umpires calling it off when they did I think was the right call.
"I think we were just waiting for something bad to happen tonight and credit to them for forecasting that.
"They (the batters) still copped a few in the stomach but yeah, just thankful that no one's been seriously injured out of this.
"It's disappointing for all the people who have come out to watch tonight, but ultimately, I think they made the right call.
"We came for full points. We came to win a game tonight and to split the points through no wrongdoing of our own is frustrating.
"I guess this is so unusual … let's hope it's not a situation that we have to worry about again."
It's the second time several of the players from both sides have been involved in match being abandoned over pitch concerns after a 2019-20 Marsh Sheffield Shield clash between Victoria and Western Australia at the MCG was called off after just 39.4 overs on day one.
Inglis was next in on that occasion, with now Renegades seamer Peter Siddle claiming the three WA wickets to fall before play was halted with the score 3-89.
Sutherland also sent down nine overs that day for 14 runs, while Renegades captain Nic Maddinson was in the Victorian side alongside Aaron Finch in what turned out to be his final first-class match.
Voges – who was also coaching WA in that match – said in hindsight perhaps Sunday night's BBL fixture shouldn't have started as "clearly there was a patch on the wicket that had been affected and had water on it" and he wasn't surprised with how it played.
Scorchers captain Ashton Turner said players tried their hardest to put on a show for the fans but it wasn't to be.
"We knew the pitch was going to be affected, we didn't really know how it was going to play but we wanted to have a crack and see if we could make something out of it," he told Fox Cricket.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to.
"Clearly we're disappointed, we're professional cricketers, our job is to play cricket and I think credit to both teams, we tried our hardest to put on a show for the amazing crowd that turned out.
"I know the Playing Conditions state no one needs to get hit, that we can come off and make a commonsense decision before that needs to happen.
"Fortunately, we've got another game here in Melbourne; we play Wednesday night at MCG against the Stars.
"We've been really excited to get stuck into this tournament. We've been sitting on the couch at home watching other teams go about it and we love being a part of this competition and we can't wait to get our title defence underway again."
Renegades counterpart Maddinson was upfront in his assessment at the toss of the "absolutely drenched" surface and said fortunately all the balls seemed to miss the batters.
"Hardie got one on the elbow; he probably got out of that very luckily," he said.
"The right call was made in the end.
"We all want to play as much as we can … but player safety is probably the highest priority.
"It's no one's fault, it just happens with the amount of rain we've had. The groundsmen have been here since 7-8am this morning to do the best they can to get it up and running."
Sutherland added he certainly "wouldn't want to be batting on this wicket".
"I wouldn't want to be facing Jhye (Richardson) on this wicket, that's for sure," he told Fox Cricket.
"Extra ball speed, you've got less time to react, and I suppose the ball could explode off the wicket more dangerously.
"When you hit the seam, it was just sticking in the wicket and popping so if you got one that pitched on (the) body line and pops like that, it could be very dangerous.
"Some were staying low, some were popping, so very favourable conditions for the bowler.
"You could see Josh Inglis after that last ball I bowled to him, he was throwing his hands around and with that body language he wasn't too happy.
"Understandably, he probably felt a bit unsafe."
The match was supposed to be the Renegades' unveiling of their top draft pick de Kock for his first game in club colours after missing their season opener last Friday due to Abu Dhabi T10 duties.
The star South African took one catch to dismiss Connolly before the game was abandoned, and he'll now complete a whirlwind trip home to rejuvenate before rejoining the 'Gades squad for their next match against Brisbane Heat on December 21 at Marvel Stadium.
KFC BBL|13 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.972 | 0 | 16 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.339 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.725 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STR
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
HUR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.268 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.051 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | -0.288 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.652 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
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