Ocean Grove to replace BPCA pitch after fireworks damaged wicket

Ocean Grove has announced it will replace its brand new pitch after just one game played on the surface. Find out why.

Chunks were taken out of Ocean Grove’s pitch by fireworks. Picture: Alan Barber

When Ocean Grove laid its new hard wicket in the middle of Ray Menzies Oval, club officials expected it to host Grubber cricket for years to come.

Instead, the BPCA side will watch on as the council tears up half of the pitch after just one game played.

Opening batter Shaun Fankhauser said the wicket itself provided no real problems for batters, but the scorch marks in the bowling run ups meant it could pose a problem down the line.

Ocean Grove is due to host ladder-leader Anglesea at Ray Menzies Oval on Saturday, with no plans to move the game as works are expected to be completed before Friday.

“It was in the run up, so it wasn’t too bad because it didn’t really affect play,” he said.

“Obviously it’s not the best for the bowlers but the majority of the pitch itself was fine.

“They’re replacing half of the deck from where the join is, they said if it just gets patched then it’ll be ruined in five years time and we’d have to replace it then, so to do it now is good.”

Fireworks were set off on the brand new pitch at Ray Menzies Oval in Ocean Grove on New Year’s Eve and vandals damaged the nets. Picture: Alan Barber

Fankhauser did not have any issues finding runs on the damaged wicket, scoring an undefeated 106 in the win against Jan Juc.

But he said there was a sour taste knowing the pitch needed to be relaid.

“It’s a bit disappointing, we’ve been waiting to play on it for ages and then this happens,” he said.

“It’s a bit of a problem with the town at the moment, all the tourists come down over the summer and they don’t really care unfortunately.

“It played beautifully, it felt great to play on and it was really consistent with its pace and bounce.”

Club president James Nessel confirmed the council would pay for the repairs on the wicket, with prices expected to be in the thousands of dollars for the work. The club had also copped damage to its training nets in recent weeks, with vandals ripping at wall coverings and leaving graffiti behind.

Grove pitch cleared to host Jan Juc

Ocean Grove is set to host Jan Juc in the opening match of the new calendar year, despite rogue New Year’s fireworks damaging the wicket at Ray Menzies Oval.

The club discovered the 12 spots of damage on the hard wicket shortly after New Year’s Eve, with the new wicket being laid on December 22.

Club officials assessed the centre wicket and the pitch of the ground on Tuesday, with president James Nessel declaring the pitch was in better condition than expected.

“We did a bit of an assessment on Tuesday night, and after we swept a lot of the ash off we realised it was a lot better than we first thought,” he said.

“It should be fine for play on Saturday, the council has already been in touch with us about patching up the damaged areas but the problem areas are off the pitch itself.

Fireworks were set off on the brand new pitch at Ray Menzies Oval in Ocean Grove on New Year’s Eve and vandals damaged the nets. Picture: Alan Barber

“The mostly melted areas are out of play and behind the wicket at the Shell Road end.”

There were initially fears the entire wicket would need to be replaced, just weeks after being laid, but those fears have now diminished after the inspection.

Instead, Nessel believes a “small patch job” is all that is required ahead of the match against premiership contenders Jan Juc.

“We should be able to get away with a small patch job,” he said.

Fireworks were set off on the brand new pitch at Ray Menzies Oval in Ocean Grove on New Year’s Eve and vandals damaged the nets. Picture: Alan Barber

“They should be able to get it done pretty quickly, from what the communications have been so far that it should all be fine before the weekend.

“We wasn’t really any talk about moving the game, we wanted to find out what the process was with the repairs before talking about that, before we made a decision like that.

“The council has been good with the talks of repairs, I don’t have an exact timeline but they’re certainly onto it and it’ll all happen pretty quickly, but I don’t think it’ll impact this weekend too much.”

Originally published as Ocean Grove to replace BPCA pitch after fireworks damaged wicket