No Perth push for Boxing Day Test: Matthews

The short-lived notion that Perth might secure the annual Boxing Day Test after concerns were raised about pitch quality at the MCG has been effectively quashed.

On the eve of the inaugural day-night Test match in the Western Australia capital, WA Cricket Association Chief Executive Officer Christina Matthews confirmed that Cricket Australia had no plans to shift the marquee event from what has become its traditional home in Melbourne.

When the recent Marsh Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia was abandoned due to the dangerous nature of the MCG pitch, it was reported that the newly completed Perth Stadium might make a bid to host the showpiece match.

But Matthews today confirmed that the WACA was content for Perth to build on its current place in the annual summer schedule that includes a Boxing Day KFC Big Bash League fixture at the conclusion of play in the MCG Test, and that CA had indicated the Test would remain at the MCG.

"They're not looking at moving anything from Melbourne on Boxing Day," Matthews said in Perth today.

"We know how sensitive Melbourne people are about their Boxing Day Test, and we're quite happy with the schedule.

"We've got a big BBL game that follows the day of cricket in Melbourne, so I think what we need to do is support cricket in making sure the MCG pitch is as good as it can be for every year of Test cricket."

Matthews' view was reiterated by WA Sports Minister Mick Murray who noted that "Perth is focused on cementing a regular Test every summer".

Of greater immediate concern for Australia cricket newest Test venue is how the pitch at Perth Stadium will cope with temperatures that are expected to peak around 40C for the first four days of the first Domain Series match starting tomorrow.

The venue's head curator, Brett Sipthorpe, admitted today he's considering breaking with tradition and watering the pitch on match eve given that temperatures in the centre of the stadium are expected to push 50C from Thursday to Sunday.

But Sipthorpe pointed out that so extreme are the forecast temperatures, and so exposed will be the strip in the hours prior to play beginning at 1pm Perth time tomorrow that any moisture he pumped into the pitch the day before will have evaporated well before the first ball's bowled.

"We've all seen the forecast, so plenty of moisture in it to try and hold it together for as long as we can," said Sipthorpe, who has been administering daily doses of up to 10 millimetres of water since Perth's weather heated-up last week.

"I don't want it to go cracking open too quickly, but I expect it will be a little slower early on then it will pick up pace like it did last year.

"It will be more consistent, hopefully, than last year – it's a stronger grass cover than what we had so we're hoping for a bit more of a consistency and then more traditional, slowly ageing.

"But the unknown is what the temperatures are like – it could be 50 degrees out here."

Sipthorpe said despite the amount of moisture the pitch has received, it is expected to produce the pace and bounce for which Perth pitches have been historically famous but it is unlikely to develop the jagged cracks that were a hallmark of Perth's previous international venue, the WACA Ground.

When the Perth Stadium hosted its maiden Test between Australia and India last year, it experienced a similar burst of desert heat in the lead-up and on the opening day and small cracks appeared in the surface from the match's outset.

The residual moisture in that pitch meant Australia openers Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch made steady but sure progress against India's seamers and reached 112 midway through the day when the first wicket fell, before a further five batters were dismissed in a frantic final three hours.

Sipthorpe expects the pitch to once again start to crack under the heat, but believes those fissures will appear later in the match than was the case last year and with significantly less severity than those which came to characterise the WACA.

"I can remember the two-inch cracks that used to be at the WACA, running up and down," Sipthorpe said.

"They crack more like a plate here, it's different and because of the moisture we've got underneath there will be plenty of cracks, but I don't expect them to blow wide open.

"You might see cracks of an inch, or something like that.

"Last year we had a lot of heat on day one and the cracks never really got bigger than that.

"There was more of them, but they never rally exploded.

"So I can't imagine it being massive canyons, but it could be interesting if it does."

Despite the oppressive forecast, Matthews is expecting crowds of around 20-25,000 in the initial stages of the Test, with the prospect of evening sessions further cooled by the city's famous Fremantle Doctor breeze enticing fans to the ground.

She confirmed that undercover seats in the stadium's top-tier will be made available to patrons whose purchased seat is in direct sunlight during the day, and noted the venue has been purpose-designed to enable spectators to gather at vantage points near food and drink outlets from where they can watch the action.

Matthews pointed to the burst of summer heat as another reason day-night Test matches should be scheduled in increasing numbers in order to maximise the times and amenities when patrons are able to attend sporting events.

"Over time, as we've seen with one-day cricket and with footy (AFL) – night sport is what people eventually want to go to," she said.

"So I think that will continue with Test cricket.

"It will be interesting to see what they (Cricket Australia) do against England, in terms of more than just Adelaide (as a day-night Test venue).

"But as time goes by, I think we'll see more and more of them."

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