‘We Make Too Many Excuses’ – Michael Vaughan Frustrated Over Abandoned Game in BBL 2023-24 Due to Unsafe Pitch
Cricket Australia is set to initiate an investigation on the matter.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was frustrated by the cancellation of the fourth game in the 2023-24 Big Bash League (BBL) due to an ‘unsafe pitch’.
The incident happened at GMHBA Stadium during the opening home game of the season for the Melbourne Renegades against the Perth Scorchers, with the pitch being deemed unsafe for batters by match officials after just 6.5 overs of the first innings.
Geelong experienced heavy rainfall before the game, resulting in water seepage through the covers onto the pitch, which led to significantly uneven bounce during the match.
Here’s what Michael Vaughan told Fox Cricket:
“I just get frustrated with cricket. Cricket has a habit of these scenarios. I’m pretty sure they knew it was going to rain all day yesterday, can’t you get extra covers in? We always just think ‘oh it’s unfortunate’, but seriously you can’t get enough covers to cover an area of turf and get more covers in to make sure today’s game goes ahead.”
“I saw it in a Test match in the UK at Old Trafford, I saw it last year at the SCG when there wasn’t enough covering … too much time taken out of the game. I just find sometimes in cricket we make too many excuses for things that should not happen. That shouldn’t be the case that a game gets abandoned because water got on the pitch. If you get rain that is unexpected I completely understand that. But I’m pretty sure yesterday it was always going to rain all day,” added Vaughan.
In response to the abandoned game, Cricket Australia (CA) issued a statement, mentioning that the ground staff worked tirelessly throughout the day to address the situation. The statement stated that the umpires deemed the pitch safe for the commencement of play.
