Cricket NSW are dead against drop-in pitches for the SCG
CRICKET NSW has issued an impassioned rally cry to the State Government and SCG Trust, seeking guarantees that the iconic Sydney pitch will never be sentenced to a drop-in death.
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CRICKET NSW has issued an impassioned rally cry to the State Government and SCG Trust, seeking guarantees that the iconic Sydney pitch will never be sentenced to a drop-in death.
Alarmed by the disastrous fallout from a Boxing Day Test ruined by an unacceptable drop-in wicket, NSW Chairman John Warn has got on the front foot to declare that Australia’s Test stars do not want the SCG’s marquee New Year’s Test to be ever be left exposed to the same sorry fate.
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In the past the AFL has placed searing pressure on the SCG and the Gabba to follow the trend around the country to get rid of its traditional square, and although those approaches have always been rejected, Cricket NSW senses a new threat could be imminent now that Perth has joined Adelaide and Melbourne with artificially laid drop-ins.
A Sydney Cricket Ground spokesman made it clear that the Trust has not started growing a drop-in pitch, has nowhere to grow one anyway with space at Moore Park limited, and also has no means of physically transporting a huge tray of turf into the middle given the way the ground’s stands are configured.
However, despite these assurances, after reading the tea leaves from what’s happened at three of the five major Test venues, Warn says Australia’s cricketers live in fear that the merits of Sydney drop-ins may become a hot topic of conversation over the coming years.
Warn says for the good of the game, drop-ins can never happen in Sydney.
“My role in Australia is to not represent my views, but represent the players’ views and our players are loud and clear,” Warn told News Corp.
“You heard them (at the MCG), drop-in pitches are not what the cricketers want to play on.
“To have the two Ashes captains talk about the MCG pitch as they have is obviously really concerning and has caused us to think about the role the SCG plays.
“The SCG has had a wonderful history, heritage and has always had a pretty iconic feel.
“The voice of reason from our perspective at the SCG is to just make sure that we express that our players would be so concerned if drop-in pitches were ever considered, let alone put into the SCG at any time in the future.
SCG test pitch on the right after the last #BBL game. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/C2MvNgkCqF
— Cricket Unfiltered (@auscricketpod) December 31, 2017
“There’s not been any open discussions (with the SCG) about (drop-ins), but I’m sure they would be considering it as the other venues are.
“That’ll be something they will consider at some point in time. I’m sure.
“We’re just saying it’s clearly a trend. It’s like the forecast says it’s raining … here comes the clouds.”
Like Boxing Day, the New Year’s Test is one of the biggest sporting events on the national calendar, and as Test cricket’s shopfront window, it simply cannot afford to disappoint.
The SCG has strongly denied drop-ins have been discussed in any capacity. However, going back to the days of Andrew Demetriou, the AFL has long pushed an argument that their footballers are more prone to injury on grounds that have traditional cricket pitch squares.
However, a Cricket Australia spokesman refuted those claims as baseless, and statistics over time have in fact pointed to the SCG having a lower injury rate than any other ground used by the AFL.
Warn said the SCG is known for its unique standing in world cricket as an Australian ground that could command playing two spinners.
At the MCG, Steve Smith has lamented how the drop-ins there have destroyed any semblance of character, and says wickets must “offer something”.
Smith says the SCG has been a mixed bag between green decks and spinning wickets in recent years, but that it has a point of difference which changes over the course of five days.
Warn has stressed the case of Australia’s cricketers to the NSW State Government.
“We don’t want it to be anything other than the Sydney Cricket Ground and we want cricket to be a priority,” he said.
“We have an excellent relationship with the Government who obviously own and run the SCG and we have made that clear to them all along.
“They’re terrific supporters of cricket and our encouragement to them is to make sure that cricket remains a priority.
“The SCG Test is the single biggest sporting event in NSW, annually. Bigger than grand finals or State of Origin.
“Its economic impact is so large and the Government knows that.”