Australia v India: SCG curator says venue can produce two pitches in 72 hours if Gabba Test falls through

If India refuses to play the Fourth Test at the Gabba, the SCG stands ready and willing to produce back-to-back decks to keep the series alive.

SCG officials have given Australia assurances it can do the impossible and dish up a second Test strip in three days if needed to save the $300 million series.

After last week facing the prospect of having no Test pitch at all, Sydney Cricket Ground curator Adam Lewis reckons he can pull off the unprecedented feat of getting two done in less than 72 hours should India refuse to play a final Test at the Gabba.

A ominous forecast of rain for the next two weeks has become Sydney’s new biggest headache, and that won’t make Lewis’ task any easier if he is required to produce a second deck for an SCG series finale.

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SCG curator Adam Lewis (left) with ground manager Justin Groves in 2018. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The turnaround time proposed would have been virtually impossible if not for the fact the SCG hosted a tour match against India back on December 11; a deck Lewis can now recreate to safeguard Cricket Australia against a potential disaster.

“If we were asked by Cricket Australia to do that, we could do it,” Lewis told News Corp.

“We heard before we were awarded our (third) Test that it might have been an option.

“I’ve got wickets there that are ready. That if we need to work on, we could get them up.

“We could do it.”

The third Test, which is locked in at the SCG for January 7, will end on the 11th, and the fourth Test – at this stage in Brisbane – starts on January 15.

If Sydney receives an SOS to take on the final Test as well, Lewis is comforted by the fact it wouldn’t even be the most difficult challenge presented to his team during his time at the SCG.

Last year’s late summer deluge which almost ruined the Big Bash League final and sent Australia crashing out of the semi-final of the women’s World Cup, only to be saved by the SCG, gives him hope that anything is possible.

Lewis says the SCG would facilitate a second Test pitch in three days if necessary to save the series. Picture: AAP Image/Jeremy Ng

Day two of the third Test on Friday has 10-20mil of water forecast and Lewis’ crew is preparing for a couple of weeks of working around the clock.

“Pulling off the women’s T20 world cup semi-final, that was a pretty amazing. We had close to 600mils of water. That was incredible. Then the Big Bash final,” he said.

“You have those things once every 10 or 20 years and to have the two in the matter of a month was incredible.”

Lewis admits if the third Test is hampered by rain as it appears likely to be, then preparing a fourth Test track would be made all the more difficult, given there’s nothing he can do about players running across the centre square.

But Lewis would have the benefit of calling on one he had prepared earlier.

“I think it’s helped that I’ve used the wicket (we would use for a fourth Test) before,” he said.

“It’s got a lot of pre-prep into it and it played really well. We used it for the tour match and it’s bounced back really well and is central on the square as well.

“I never would have thought this would be a possibility but the whole year has been that, hasn’t it? We’ve had to adapt.”

TEST RAIN FEARS HAVE NSW HEALTH ON EDGE

Sydney’s gloomy weather forecast has cast a dark shadow over the public safety plan for the SCG Test, with NSW Health and Cricket Australia still unsure how many spectators will be allowed in when play starts at 10.30am on Thursday.

Showers are predicted on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Sydney, and the prospect of thousands of spectators huddling undercover at the SCG to avoid the rain has sent shivers through NSW Health.

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Downpours in the first three days could see not only overs lost, but also spectators, as organisers scramble to adjust the COVID-safe plan, which has had its draft copy washed away by the weatherman.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said last week that fans spaced out at the SCG would be safer watching the Test than those gathering indoors to watch at home on TV.

But concerns the match could turn into a super spreader event would grow if spectators rushed for cover in confined spaces during an escalating coronavirus outbreak.

The SCG has hosted 21 events during the COVID-19 period without a single transmission.

However sources in charge of organising the SCG Test remained supremely confident on Sunday that wet weather would not be a death knell to playing in front of a crowd.

While the capacity could be lowered, they were adamant the Test would go ahead in front of fans and the health risk would remain at a low-level.

Residents with a postcode in the Cumberland area are likely to be banned from attending the match as the Berala cluster expands.

NSW Health’s safety plan at the SCG is heavily reliant on zoning spectators into compartments of the ground so they can’t mingle beyond designated areas, which will also aid contact tracing measures.

“There are some concerns about the SCG and the upcoming Test that (NSW) Health is working with those organisers,” NSW acting premier John Barilaro said on Sunday.

“We’ve got to deal with some issues around wet weather, if that was to apply over the few days.

“The other thing we’re concerned about is because of the Berala cluster if you’re coming from that area, the broader Cumberland area in real terms, we’re almost encouraging you to rethink about going to the Test.”

India and Australia cricket contests always draw big numbers to the Sydney Cricket Ground, whatever form of the game.

NSW was open to hosting back-to-back Tests as doubts emerged over the Gabba hosting the series finale.

“If we’re going to put on an alternative Test after that because of what’s happened with the breaches (by India’s players), well that’s up to the Queensland government,” Barilaro said.

“That bubble is to protect the players and community.

“If those breaches have impacted the conditions that the Queensland government have applied to the Indian cricket team, well that’s something for the Queensland government to make a decision about.”

“We’re committing to the Test that we know that we have, and we’re going to do that in the safest possible way.

“That is our priority, if an opportunity arises (to host the fourth Test) we’ll deal with that when it arrives.

“We have already proven in this state that we can hold large events, like the NRL Grand Final and State of Origin, and we haven’t had that issue of a transmission.”