MCG curators begin preparing another pitch as SCG Test hangs in the balance

Staff at the MCG are working morning and night to prepare a second pitch if the ground is called upon to host back-to-back Test matches.

The MCG members on Boxing Day. Picture: David Caird

The MCG is working morning and night to prepare a second pitch as plans for Sydney’s iconic Pink Test to be relocated to Melbourne rapidly advance.

Cricket Australia remains committed to saving the SCG Test and chief executive Nick Hockley is locked in feverish talks with the Queensland government trying to secure exemptions to travel from Sydney to Brisbane on January 12.

But the clock is ticking and if exemptions cannot be guaranteed for players, coaches and 100 broadcast staff to enter Queensland from NSW then there will be little choice but to play back-to-back games at the MCG, before completing the series at the Gabba.

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The MCG pitch showed plenty on day one. Picture: Michael Klein

While Cricket Australia would be comfortable playing at the SCG despite the Northern Beaches’ COVID-19 outbreak, Queensland’s locked border to NSW has Sydney at risk of losing its showpiece match.

Queensland unlocking its border before January 12 would almost certainly save Sydney’s Test because broadcast staff would not have to enter cricket’s biosecurity bubble in the hope of qualifying for travel exemptions.

But tensions between the northern states remain high, with relations between Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian publicly breaking down this year.

A decision from CA is imminent as the possibility that the third Test will be played 305cm to the left of Boxing Day, and not 850km to the north-east, grows once again.

The Melbourne Cricket Club was given the greenlight from the ICC and CA to start preparing another Test pitch, a process which takes 10 days.

From the MCC Members’ end, the pitch directly to the left of the Boxing Day strip has been earmarked for a possible January 7 Test.

Broadcasters believe the third Test is a 50-50 chance of remaining in Sydney or coming to Melbourne and they, like CA, would ideally love to see the series go ahead as scheduled.

Fans were back in the action at the MCG. Picture: David Caird

But the MCC has started working through its own logistical hurdles in the event the contingency plan is called upon.

Dozens of workers at the famous ground have booked holiday plans for early January after being ordered to use their annual leave, with nothing booked in the MCG’s calendar.

But they will be hit with SOS phone calls to return to work if the Sydney Test comes to Melbourne.

It was only last week that cleaners were frantically scrubbing weeds out of the MCG seating bowl, which had not been used in 293 days.

A relocation would also create headaches for CA, which would have to transport its Pink Test equipment to Melbourne and encourage supporters to dress in pink on day three.

The Jane McGrath Day has become an important part of the calendar, raising money for the foundation and holding a special place for cricket fans in Sydney.