SCG Grand Final under fire after cricket matches moved due to NRL training sessions

Rugby league training at the Sydney Cricket Ground has claimed an unexpected casualty sparking fresh calls for the NRL Grand Final to come to Queensland.

TALK about a sticky wicket.

Cricket NSW has been forced to move a match from the SCG after the ground was damaged by Sydney Roosters training sessions in the lead-up to the NRL grand final, sparking renewed calls for rugby league’s showpiece event to move to Brisbane.

The SCG was controversially chosen to host for next year’s NRL grand final — and potentially the year after, while Sydney’s football stadiums undergo major redevelopments, much to the chagrin of footy fans who want the match staged at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

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But further questions have now been raised over the suitability of the SCG with the forced move of this week’s Sheffield Shield match to a suburban oval after Roosters training sessions before the grand final reportedly damaged the wicket square.

The SCG regularly hosts NRL and Sydney Swans AFL games during the football season, but the ground usually has several weeks to recover before cricket season.

However, the Roosters training sessions left ground staff with little time to repair the field in time for this week’s Shield game — a situation that would only be exacerbated by hosting the NRL grand final in the first week of October just days before cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup.

The SCG and Allianz Stadium. Picture: Mark Evans

A spokesman for the SCG Trust on Tuesday insisted there would be “ample time” for the ground to recover between next year’s NRL grand final and the T20 World Cup, but Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the fiasco was ‘just not cricket’.

“This pigheadedness from the NSW government is not only robbing footy fans of an NRL grand final at a world-class stadium, but now it’s costing cricket fans as well,” she said.

“The SCG is now in a position where they can’t even play cricket on a cricket field during cricket season because of a rugby league team.

“It’s almost Monty Python-esque.”

However, an SCG spokesman remained confident the venue could handle both major events next October.

“We are looking forward to rugby league’s grand final returning to its spiritual home at the SCG in 2020,” he said.

“Once the trophy is lifted and the Clive Churchill Medal awarded, our grounds team has ample time to prepare the field for the T20 Men’s Cricket World Cup tournament opener between Australia and Pakistan.”

SCG Head groundsman Tom Parker rolling the pitch. There have been concerns raised about the playing surface of the venue, forcing the relocation of a Sheffield Shield game this week. Picture. Phil Hillyard

A spokesman for Cricket NSW said the SCG’s use by multiple football codes was ‘a short-term problem’ that would be resolved once the new redevelopments for ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium are completed in the years ahead.

“Cricket NSW will continue to work closely with the SCG Trust to ensure our players have as much exposure to the SCG as possible,” he said.

The NRL is yet to make a decision on hosting rights for the 2021 grand final, but Sydney is believed to be in the box seat with the NSW government determined to hold on to the event.