Big two Tests of the summer at MCG and SCG are difficult to shift

Rarely has privilege and entitlement been brought into such sharp focus as this cricket summer heads toward its biggest moments.

Smoke haze from the NSW bushfires blankets the Sydney Cricket Ground during the Sheffield Shield match between NSW and Queensland. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Rarely has privilege and entitlement been brought into such sharp focus as this cricket summer heads toward its big moments in its oldest and most celebrated venues: the MCG and the SCG.

The grounds all but guaranteed jewel-in-the-crown Test matches no matter how bad things get or how much better they might be elsewhere.

It was another post-apocalypse preview in Sydney on Friday. Ash falling from the sky, the sun obscured by the ubiquitous smoke haze, the city’s citizens reading through bloodshot eyes about the state of the SCG surface after a Big Bash match that was compared to beach cricket.

The last Sheffield Shield match at the SCG resembled Delhi at its worst.

Pollution levels in Sydney were again “hazardous” on Friday, unsuitable for sport or strenuous outdoor activity. Air quality is now a part of pre-match medical briefings before games, but don’t be alarmed. It would have to be extraordinarily bad to cancel a Test. International Cricket Guidelines suggest umpires should “delay” or “suspend” play if players or officials were affected. In Melbourne, the Kiwis took one look at the forecast and opted out of the first day of their only practice match. It’s too hot to even bother, but they will attempt to endure the elements for a single-day tour game on Saturday.

Imagine it being too hot to play the summer sport. The visitors took to the field for a run of 40C days in Perth, but the promise of 45C was just too much.

If the heat doesn’t hurt you in Melbourne the wicket will. The last Sheffield Shield game at the MCG had to be abandoned because the pitch was too dangerous to continue. The last Ashes match at the venue had a pitch so boring spectators and players were in danger of losing the will to go on.

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When Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said recently that the MCG was not guaranteed the Boxing Day Test beyond this year he was not lying, but the likelihood of the game being moved is so low that WACA chief executive Christina Matthews offered to jump from a plane should it ever happen.

Cricket Australia’s contracts with the stadiums and cities are in line with the future tour programs. Under current arrangements, for instance, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth are guaranteed a Test next season, but there is no guarantee of which Test or when.

Perth might have the best wicket and the most expensive new stadium in the country ($1.6bn) but finds itself in a state of anxiety that will only be relieved when it learns whether Afghanistan or India play there in 2020. The west is in direct competition with Brisbane for the pick of what is left over after Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide take their share of the cake.

Adelaide is now clearly third thanks to arguably the best stadium rebuild in the world. A two decade long campaign by Ian McLachlan to get the funding was anchored on good architectural principles.

“You need to see the sky,” he would say. The results are outstanding.

Once upon a time Tasmania was entitled to the crumbs that fell from the table in summers when Australia hosted six Test matches (most bar the Ashes). Now, the Hobart ground finds itself in competition with the WACA and with Canberra.

Bellerive has not had a Test since 2016 and it is unclear when it will get its next match, especially as there is less cricket now with a move away from the triangular ODIs and six-Test summers.

Critics point to the crowds to justify the favouritism of the big three, but the not so big four can argue that it is easy to get crowds when the MCG and SCG Tests are on the same time of the holiday calendar every year. It is a rotten task trying to get anybody to the cricket before Christmas and one made harder by uncertainties surrounding the dates.

“It bothers me that it is not an even playing field,” Matthews said on Friday as she contemplated the chance they would be hosting Afghanistan in Perth next year. “I understand that they are iconic matches, but think people should be made to reach certain standards to keep those iconic matches.”

The SCG has been stung by recent criticisms and spent over $1m relaying its turf after the recent U2 concert. The sight of sand splashing from the grass in Wednesday’s BBL match was, it says, a result of top dressing used to bed things down before the Test. The outfield, it points out, was rated good. And air quality is out of its control.