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- Published: December 10, 2023 17:09
New Delhi: In a shocking turn of events, a Big Bash League BBL match was called off owing to the ‘unsafe’ conditions of the pitch that was being used during the game. It was the 4th fixture of Australia’s domestic league BBL in which Melbourne Renegades were taking on their opponent Perth Scorchers in GMHBA Stadium on Sunday.
However, by the second last ball of the 7th over of Perth’s innings, the players as well as the match officials noticed the ball coming towards the batsman at a dangerous height as the pitch was offering it a variable bounce, causing it to rise significantly after touching the ground. This raised concerns about the player’s safety amongst the authorities who then decided to do away with the match and suspended it after labelling the pitch “unsafe.”
Big Bash match between Melbourne Renegades vs Perth Scorcher has been suspended due to “unsafe pitch”.pic.twitter.com/skeXVbGeWn
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 10, 2023
Perth Scorchers scorecard read 2/30 (6.5 overs) with Aaron Hardie (20 unbeaten) and Jish Inglis (3 unbeaten) out there at the crease when both umpires called off the match. On the other hand, Melbourne got two wickets in the form of Stephen Eskinazi (0) and Cooper Connolly (6) who were dismissed in the initial overs of the first innings. Both the teams shared 1 point each from the abandoned contest.
The game is abandoned due to the pitch conditions.
Lisa Sthalekar talks to the umpires about how the decision was made #BBL13 pic.twitter.com/Jv0y40tbud
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 10, 2023
Ricky Pointing slams match authorities
Later, the on-field umpire Treloar spoke about the whole incident and informed that they were hopeful that the pitch would play perfectly before the game started. He said, “The Pich played alright in the initial overs and we were quite hopeful with what we saw. But then suddenly the ball started rising, which was thought was unsafe.” Australia’s World Cup-winning Captain Ricky Pointing also voiced his anger with the outcome of the match as he openly called out the organizers for preparing such an unsafe pitch for the Big Bash match.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia declared that all the 6,600 cricket fans who bought a ticket to watch the now-suspended game in the GMHBA Stadium will receive a 100% refund of their ticket cost soon.